Motion for a resolution | Doc. 12238 | 04 May 2010

Child abuse in institutions: ensure full protection of the victims

Signatories: Mr Pieter OMTZIGT, Netherlands ; Mr Roland BLUM, France, EPP/CD ; Lord Tim BOSWELL, United Kingdom, EDG ; Ms Karmela CAPARIN, Croatia, EPP/CD ; Mr Hans FRANKEN, Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Mr John GREENWAY, United Kingdom ; Mr Andreas GROSS, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Jean HUSS, Luxembourg, SOC ; Ms Corien W.A. JONKER, Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Ms Marietta KARAMANLI, France, SOC ; Mr Peter KELLY, Ireland, ALDE ; Mr Konstantin KOSACHEV, Russian Federation, EDG ; Ms Elvira KOVÁCS, Serbia, EPP/CD ; Mr Jean-Paul LECOQ, France, UEL ; Mr Göran LINDBLAD, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Mr Dick MARTY, Switzerland, ALDE ; Ms Liliane MAURY PASQUIER, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Carina OHLSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Zoran PETRESKI, ''The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'', EPP/CD ; Ms Marietta de POURBAIX-LUNDIN, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Ms Maria Pilar RIBA FONT, Andorra, SOC ; Ms Maria de Belém ROSEIRA, Portugal, SOC ; Ms Marlene RUPPRECHT, Germany, SOC ; Mr Rati SAMKURASHVILI, Georgia, EPP/CD ; Mr Giacomo SANTINI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Fidias SARIKAS, Cyprus, SOC ; Mr Giuseppe SARO, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Kimmo SASI, Finland, EPP/CD ; Mr Marc SPAUTZ, Luxembourg, EPP/CD ; Mr Klaas de VRIES, Netherlands, SOC ; Mr Paul WILLE, Belgium ; Ms Betty WILLIAMS, United Kingdom

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

Many countries, including Council of Europe member and observer states, have recently been faced with accounts of physical and sexual child abuse occurring within residential facilities, boarding schools, churches and other institutional settings.

The Parliamentary Assembly notes with regret that the needs of the victims of this abuse have often been disregarded – both in the past, when the offences occurred, and in the present, connected to the way they have been handled by the institutions concerned, the state and the media. The extent and duration of abuse situations is shocking and questions arise why they were not uncovered earlier.

In this respect, the Assembly asks itself whether appropriate control mechanisms – both internal and external ‑ were lacking and why the control mechanisms in place have not been sufficient to ensure full protection of all children.

The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (CETS No. 201) stipulates that each Party shall take the necessary legislative or other measures to ensure that any intentional abuse of a child made by a person being “in a recognised position of trust, authority or influence over the child” be criminalised. This Convention will enter into force on 1 July 2010.

The Assembly recommends that member states ensure that any case of child abuse is subject to their criminal law system, and that perpetrators are prosecuted and all victims (and also whistleblowers) receive the same protection regardless of the institutional setting in which the crime was committed.

The Assembly also urges member states to sign, ratify and implement the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse without further delay, if they have not done so already.