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Recommendation 2013 (2013) Final version
Parliaments united in combating sexual violence against children: mid-term review of the ONE in FIVE Campaign
1. Sexual abuse and sexual exploitation
of children is unfortunately not a new phenomenon, but the vast increase
in the number of cases unveiled in Council of Europe member States
at the beginning of the 21st century has resulted in increasing
awareness of the need to protect children from this grave human
rights violation and worldwide scourge. Firm legislation, strong
policies and action to eradicate sexual violence against children
have been introduced in many countries. However, statistics show
that there are still far too many incidences of child abuse occurring
in various settings, including the wider family environment of children, childcare
or educational institutions, or using new information and communication
technologies. It is estimated that one in five children fall victim
to sexual violence.
2. The Parliamentary Assembly has been fully committed to effectively
fighting all kinds of violence against children, including sexual
violence, for decades. It thus welcomed the opening for signature
in 2007 of the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of
Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote
Convention, CETS No. 201) and the decision in 2010 to launch a campaign
to promote this important convention. The Assembly has been developing
the parliamentary dimension of the Council of Europe ONE in FIVE
Campaign to stop sexual violence against children since its launch
in Rome in November 2010.
3. For this purpose, it has enlisted help from the national parliaments
of the Council of Europe member States, the parliaments with observer
status with the Assembly and those with partner for democracy status, as
well as other regional and international parliamentary assemblies,
setting up a network of contact parliamentarians, with 53 members
to date.
4. Uniting the various organs and bodies of the Council of Europe,
the ONE in FIVE Campaign is run at intergovernmental, parliamentary,
regional and local levels. The biggest success of the campaign so
far has without a doubt been the significant increase in the number
of ratifications of the Lanzarote Convention, which reached 25 in
March 2013, that is more than half of all Council of Europe member
States. However, the effect of the awareness-raising activities
in the 25 countries involved in the first two years of the campaign
should not be underestimated.
5. While the Council of Europe can rightly be proud of the achievements
of the first two years of the campaign, the Assembly believes that
it is possible to step up the campaign’s outreach and effectiveness
even further with a view to achieving its ultimate aim: that all
member States (and other States beyond Europe where there is a high
incidence of sexual abuse of children) not only accede to the Lanzarote
Convention, but also implement its provisions, so that sexual violence
against children is met with zero tolerance.
6. The Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
6.1. allocate adequate financing
from the ordinary budget of the Council of Europe to the three dimensions
of the campaign until its end in November 2014, and to the Committee
of the Parties of the Lanzarote Convention and its Secretariat thereafter;
6.2. incorporate the theme of combating all forms of violence
against children into the Council of Europe’s assistance and co-operation
programmes;
6.3. urge member States to:
6.3.1. finalise signature
and ratification of the Lanzarote Convention by the end of November 2014,
if they have not yet done so;
6.3.2. ensure that national legislation is in conformity with
the Lanzarote Convention and that its provisions are implemented
across the board, tackling all the issues related to sexual abuse and
sexual exploitation of children;
6.3.3. strengthen the multi-stakeholder approach in the fight
against sexual violence against children at all levels, encouraging
increased co-operation between the different tiers and levels of
government at national level, as well as the full involvement of
parliaments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the European
Centre for Global Interdependence and Solidarity (North-South Centre)
of the Council of Europe, ombudsperson/child commissioner institutions
and academia as well as children, young people and parents themselves,
with an emphasis on concrete measures, going beyond dialogue;
6.3.4. allocate adequate financing to all stakeholders in the
fight against sexual violence against children, with special attention
being paid to local and regional authorities, NGOs and youth organisations
active in the field;
6.3.5. give special attention to redress (including at least
symbolic financial compensation) for victims;
6.3.6. disseminate information on the Lanzarote Convention and
on the ONE in FIVE Campaign as widely as possible.
7. The Assembly invites national parliaments to continue to support
the ONE in FIVE Campaign and to carry out and supervise the implementation
of legislative reform, as well as to organise awareness-raising activities
in line with the campaign and the provisions of the Lanzarote Convention.