Sexual violence and children ...

 hurt for life

According to Child sexual abuse in Europe,  scientific research estimates that between 10% to 20% of children in Europe will be sexually assaulted in childhood. Public attention is most often drawn towards the lurking stranger depicted in media, yet children are most in danger of abuse from those around them, such as family members and friends, care-givers, even peers.

Child sexual abuse can take many forms among which: incest, pornography, prostitution, trafficking in human beings and peer sexual assault. All of these can and do cause serious damage to children’s mental and physical health. The consequences of sexual abuse follow children into their adult lives – lives which first person accounts often describe as lived out in hidden sorrow and pain.

The Committee of Experts on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PC-ES), established in 2005, as  a sub-committee of the European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC),  prepared the new Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. Open for signature on 25 October in Lanzarote, Spain, it requires 5 ratifications for entry into force, of which 3 must be member states.

The convention is a comprehensive legal instrument divided into 10 different chapters covering all relevant aspects of the protection of children against sexual abuse:

} preventive and protective measures;
} substantive criminal law (including classification of different offences, among which one criminalising "grooming";
} investigation, prosecution and procedural law  - including child-friendly procedures;
} treatment of sex offenders;
} national database and exchanges of information;
} international co-operation.

The convention  provides a comprehensive and exhaustive coverage of the protection of children against sexual exploitation and abuse, which consolidates existing standards in the field.

The new instrument fills gaps, ensures coherency in Europe and the equal protection of all of its children by establishing clear common standards and definitions that are applicable in all European countries, in particular through harmonising criminal law and other relevant measures. The Council of Europe has pledged to draw governments’ attention to the need to bring this Convention into force with all speed, and to offer support to the ratification process through the holding of regional conferences.

Full text of the convention
Child Protection Website
Convention highlights in a nutshell
also in French and Spanish

Texts and activities

Toledo Spain: 12-13 March 2009 – high level conference on the protection of children in international justice

15 December in Warsaw: 3rd Council of Europe conference to alert governments to the need to ensure that the convention comes into force
     Press release
     Opening speech by Carlo Chiaromonte 

Council of Europe workshop at World Congress III against sexual exploitation of children and adolescents

Conference report for the Yokohama review for Europe and Central Asia on combating the sexual exploitation of children;

Child sexual abuse in Europe: Council of Europe Publishing 2003

 React: an analytical tool used by member states and the Council of Europe to identify examples of good practice, raise awareness, discern trends and challenges to make recommendations on future actions.