"The European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse is closely linked to the objectives which member states of the Council of Europe have set themselves in bringing the Lanzarote Convention into force. Through its monitoring mechanism, the Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse helps to make Europe a safer place for children. The European Day is designed to make us more aware of the consequences of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse for children and to incite us to improve our laws, our procedures, and the measures we take to protect children at risk of sexual abuse as well as our multidisciplinary and multinational co-operation.

As Chair of the Committee of the Parties to the Lanzarote Convention, I am proud to say that several of the 41 States Parties to the Convention have now amended their legislation and practice in response to the recommendations adopted by the Committee in December 2015 in its first monitoring report on the implementation of the Convention. After this report, which concerned the protection of children against sexual abuse in the circle of trust, we examined another environment which comprises risks of sexual exploitation and abuse against children: the field of new information and communication technologies. We have therefore adopted a Declaration condemning the existence of web addresses advertising or promoting child sexual abuse material or images and we have decided that our next monitoring cycle will examine the situation in our States Parties concerning the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse perpetrated by means of information and communication technologies, in particular sexual chatting (such as “sexting”) or the online publication of pornographic images that children take of themselves and the sexual extortion that may arise as a result.

Our concern at the situation of children affected by the refugee crisis has led as to examine the risks facing these children in terms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse and we are about to adopt a monitoring report on the protection measures taken by States Parties.

In short, all these themes illustrate the extent of the task facing us and the degree to which children are vulnerable to sexual exploitation and abuse. It is therefore essential that we all do our utmost to eradicate such horrors and do more to protect children against sexual exploitation and abuse".