Child participation

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.

events

Back Kiko’s exciting adventures continue in the digital age

New Kiko and the Manymes video and storybook for young children are out!

The Council of Europe project to End Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse@Europe (EndOCSEA@Europe) is happy to announce the launch of the new adventures of our beloved character friend Kiko who is now discovering screens and the misuse of pictures in the online environment in the video and storybook of Kiko and the Manymes. It also features Pipa, Kiko’s friend and confidant, the “magic whistle”, Skrin and the Manymes, who misuse Kiko’s pictures.

The objective of Kiko and the Manymes is twofold. Firstly, this campaign is addressed to adults, with a focus on parents and caregivers of children 4-7 years old, teaching them how to protect their children and avoid their exposure to phones with video and photo cameras or a webcam. Secondly, the experience of Kiko with screens in the book, which also present “the golden rules of screens”, provide a basic set of rules to empower children to protect their privacy and their image in the online environment.

These awareness-raising tools are currently available in English and will be translated shortly in French and Spanish as well as in the 10 languages of the EndOCSEA@Europe Project beneficiary countries, in order to reach a wide audience.

Why this initiative?

1 in 3 internet users worldwide is a child. Numbers are on the rise. While information and communication technologies bring many benefits to children, they also put children at risk, including very young children.

The age of users and potential victims of abuse continues to lower, with very young children being more exposed to harm. Children as young as 2 are using internet-enabled devices via gaming, entertainment and educational games and children of 5 to 7 years of age are using in-game messaging, voice and text chats.

Young children are particularly exposed to child sexual abuse and exploitation online with 28% of victims being below the age of 11. Nude and semi-nude pictures of children are regularly posted online by adults.

In some cases, very young children are groomed, deceived or extorted into producing and sharing a sexual image or video of themselves, sometimes in the child’s own room. This content may then be traded and exchanged, perpetuating a particularly pernicious form of child sexual exploitation and abuse which is on the rise. It is very difficult for victims to seek help and very challenging for law enforcement to identify the victims, prosecute the abusers and remove the content from the Internet.

Let’s keep children safe! Come and discover more about Kiko’s brand new adventure.

Acknowledgements:

The Council of Europe gratefully acknowledges the financial support provided for this programme by the End Violence Fund.

Kiko and the Manymes Video