Join states in a class of excellence to fight child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse
Side event organised on the margins of the 55th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council
12 March 2024, Geneva
The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (the Lanzarote Convention) is the most comprehensive international instrument on protecting children from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. It serves as a blueprint for states to strengthen legislation and policies to better prevent sexual exploitation and abuse of children, protect victims, prosecute offenders, and promote national and international co-operation. The Convention is open to accession by any country in the world. Joining the Lanzarote Convention allows states to benefit from the unique mechanism it provides to strengthen legislation, policy and practice, through the Lanzarote Committee. 48 countries are currently parties to the Convention.
The aim of the side event is to present the ways for states to prevent and protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse, to enhance international co-operation through joining the Lanzarote Convention and to explore an example of promising practice for multidisciplinary and interagency co-operation in the form of Barnahus or “Children’s House”. Panelists will address the following questions:
- What are the benefits of joining the Lanzarote Convention?
- What practical support and policy guidance do states parties receive?
- What is the Barnahus model and how does it work?
The event will be co-moderated by Regina Jensdottir, Council of Europe Co-ordinator for the Rights of the Child and Páll Magnússon, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Iceland in Geneva, Bureau Member of the Lanzarote Committee. The following will be present as panellists:
- H.E. Ásmundur Einar Daðason, Minister of Education and Children, Iceland
- Dr. Najat Maalla M’jid, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children
- Mag. Nina Koželj, Director General, Punitive Law and Human Rights Directorate, Ministry of Justice, Slovenia
Useful resources
Lanzarote Convention
Barnahus (Children's House)
Barnahus is the leading European response model for child sexual abuse that coordinates parallel criminal and child welfare investigations, brings all relevant services under one roof, and thus helps avoid secondary victimisation of the child.
The Barnahus model was first launched in Europe in Iceland in 1998. In 2015, the Council of Europe’s Committee of the parties to the convention on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (Lanzarote Convention) has recognised the model as a promising practice, and since then, the Council of Europe has been supporting its member states in adapting and using it. With the Council of Europe and EU support, the Barnahus model was implemented in Slovenia and reinforced in Finland. Similar joint projects in Croatia, Ireland and Spain are ongoing.
