"If we want to put an end to the sexual abuse of children, we must prevent abuse, protect victims, prosecute the perpetrators of violence and also ensure the full participation of children in the entire process", said the chair of the Current Affairs Committee of the Congress, Gabrielle Neff (Germany, ILDG), speaking on the annual "European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse" on 18 November.
This is the approach advocated by the Congress in its Pact of Towns and Regions to Stop Sexual Violence against Children, which currently brings together some 80 cities, towns, regions and municipal and regional associations from 24 European countries. Launched in 2012, this initiative is aimed at sharing good practices and promoting a transversal, multidisciplinary approach that takes all stakeholders into account and draws on the Council of Europe's legal standards and instruments, notably the Lanzarote Convention.
"Local and regional authorities are in the front line of this combat. They can take action not only to educate people but also to cater for social needs, and can contribute to the setting up of alert and support systems to protect children", pointed out Ms Neff, emphasising the situation of unaccompanied child refugees, who are particularly at risk and were the focus of a report adopted by the Congress in 2018.
"As local and regional representatives, we must take action, coordinated with the other tiers of government, on the basis of clearly defined prerogatives and adequate funding", she concluded.
