Children's Rights

The Council of Europe protects and promotes the human rights of everyone, including children. Based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the European Convention on Human Rights and other legal standards, the Council of Europe promotes and protects the rights of 150 million children in Europe.

7th Edition of the European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse

As every year since 2015, the Council of Europe partners with a wide range of stakeholders, including member states, civil society organisations and national parliaments, to celebrate the European Day for the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. The objective of the European Day is to raise public awareness of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children, and the need to prevent such acts. This year’s edition focuses on “Making the circle of trust truly safe for children”.

The vast majority of child sexual abuse occurs in the child’s circle of trust, by persons they know, admire, trust and love. This makes identifying, reporting, and investigating the crime, as well as protecting the victims, especially difficult.