The Lanzarote Convention requires Parties to encourage the participation of children, according to their evolving capacity, in the development and the implementation of state policies, programmes or other initiatives concerning the fight against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children in Article 9 (1). Children’s right to participate in the implementation of the Lanzarote Convention is also firmly rooted in the Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2022 – 2027) and the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers on the participation of children and young people under the age of 18.

Accordingly, the Lanzarote Committee adopted Guidelines for Implementation of Child Participation and conducted a child consultation process during its 2nd monitoring round. As a result, 306 children from 10 Parties* participated in the consultations. The participants were selected among children aged between 11 and 18 years, encouraging the participation of children in vulnerable situations and from diverse backgrounds and ensuring gender balance. The contributions received from children were taken into account by the Lanzarote Committee in the preparation of its implementation report on “The protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse facilitated by information and communication technologies: Addressing the challenges raised by child self-generated sexual images and/or videos”. They are summarised in the first chapter of the report, are reflected throughout various other chapters, and some of the recommendations of the Lanzarote Committee to States Parties are based on their suggestions.

Following this first initiative, in order to support child participation in the future activities of the Lanzarote Committee and the European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, the Secretariat of the Lanzarote Committee has prepared guidelines to help facilitators engage with children in a meaningful and respectful manner.

Children and young people were also involved in the preparation of awareness-raising tools such as “Tell someone you trust” and “So this is sexual abuse?”, explaining in a child-friendly manner children’s rights under the Lanzarote Convention.

 

* Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Republic of Moldova, Portugal, Serbia, and Ukraine.
 

 

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Back “All on board – all online”: Council of Europe launches a new Handbook for policy makers on the rights of the child in the digital environment

“All on board – all online”: Council of Europe launches a new Handbook for policy makers on the rights of the child in the digital environment

On 10 December 2020 - on the occasion of the International Human Rights Day - the Council of Europe held a webinar to launch a new tool: the Handbook for policy makers on the rights of the child in the digital environment.

As 1 in 3 internet users worldwide are children, they represent a large group of digital citizens. While they explore the digital environment, children are presented with many opportunities, including access to education material and information, and platforms to express themselves and engage in play. However, children also face many risks online, and can suffer from human rights violations.

To protect children’s rights in the digital environment, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted the Guidelines to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of the child in the digital environment, which also exists in a child-friendly version. The new Handbook completes these guidelines, by supporting policy makers in dealing concretely with the online rights and protection of children. It will assist the formulation of national frameworks and policies, as well as provide interpretative and practical guidance to ensure the respect of children’s rights online.

The three prominent authors of the Handbook, together with an expert who prepared a closely related Council of Europe Report on children with disabilities in the digital environment, discussed the importance of policy making and presented how the Handbook can be used to safeguard and support children’s activities online:

  • Ms Sonia Livingstone, Professor of Social Psychology, Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), United Kingdom
  • Ms Eva Lievens, Professor of Law & Technology, Ghent University, Belgium
  • Mr John Carr, International Advisor on children’s internet safety and security, United Kingdom
  • Ms Laura Lundy, Professor, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom.

 Concept note and programme

 Introduction by Ms Regina Jensdottir, Head of Children's Rights Division, Council of Europe

 Presentation by Ms Sonia Livingstone, Professor of Social Psychology, Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), United Kingdom

 Presentation by Ms Eva Lievens, Professor of Law & Technology, Ghent University, Belgium

 Presentation by Ms Laura Lundy, Professor, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom

 Facebook livestream of the webinar

Strasbourg 10 Decembre 2020
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