Sexual exploitation of children
Doc. 7649
23 September 1996
MOTION FOR A RECOMMENDATION
presented by Mr VAN DER MAELEN and others
This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it
The Assembly,
Deeply moved by the dramatic events in Belgium, which have aroused emotion worldwide and cast fresh light on the squalid trade engaged in by those who sexually exploit children;
Horrified by the sexual violence perpetrated against child victims of incestuous acts, paedophilia and child prostitution and pornography;
Taking the view that such wicked acts, which are an affront to human dignity, constitute a crime against humanity;
Considering that this serious and delicate social problem is a challenge to all citizens, first and foremost those bearing political responsibility;
Considering that combating the sexual exploitation of children requires European and international coordination and co-operation;
Noting that national legislation on child prostitution and pornography and on the sexual abuse of children varies;
Noting that improper and criminal uses of new means of communication such as the Internet raise serious problems relating to the sexual abuse of children;
Taking the view that draconian measures must be taken against those who sexually abuse children and those responsible for such abuse;
Emphasising the need to strike at the actual causes of this scourge by taking appropriate information and prevention measures;
Emphasising the need to accord greater importance to the victims of such odious acts by taking support measures;
Welcoming the holding of the World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, which took place in Stockholm from 27 to 31 August 1996;
Referring to Assembly Recommendation 1044 on international crime and Recommendation 1065 on the traffic in children and other forms of child exploitation, and to Committee of Ministers Recommendation (91) 11 concerning sexual exploitation, pornography and prostitution of, and trafficking in, children and young adults;
Reiterating the importance of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 November 1989,
Recommends that the Committee of Ministers
1. as rapidly as possible put into practice the action plan adopted by the World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, which took place in Stockholm from 27 to 31 August 1996;
2. invite member states' governments and parliaments to give special attention to the problem of the sexual exploitation of children, by adopting relevant legislation on child prostitution and pornography and on the prevention of sexual violence against children;
3. instruct the Select Committee of Experts on Sexual Exploitation, Pornography and Prostitution of, and Trafficking in, Children and Young Adults to conduct a study on harmonisation of the varied existing legislation
- suggesting that all member states use a single definition of traffic in children, of sexual abuse and violence against children and of child prostitution and pornography;
- suggesting an age of child sexual maturity which is the same in all Council of Europe member states;
- suggesting that the sexual abuse of children constitute the same type of offence in all Council of Europe member states, so that a common definition of the offence is possible;
- suggesting that measures harmonised throughout Europe be taken relating to the treatment of sexual offenders, especially paedophiles, concerning the rules on release on parole, psychological supervision and social monitoring;
- suggesting that all member states accept the principle of extraterritoriality, so that those who sexually abuse children may be prosecuted for acts committed outside national territory;
- suggesting that member states make it possible for child protection associations and NGOs to bring a civil actopm in cases of sexual abuse of children;
4. instruct the same committee of experts to draft, in conjunction with the Assembly, a Council of Europe Convention on the traffic in human beings, the trafficking of children and the sexual exploitation of children, including therein the report on the traffic in women and forced prostitution;
5. instruct the same committee of experts to draft, in conjunction with the Assembly, a protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights covering sexual violence against children;
6. invite European Union member states
- to consider extending the sphere of competence of the Europol Drugs Unit to include the traffic in human beings, and to ask the EDU to make available to member states the list of specialised centres (radar, genetics, etc) which they may call upon during investigations relating to the sexual exploitation of children;
- to allocate budget funds to the traffic in human beings;
- to consider setting up a centre to monitor the sexual exploitation of children, modelled on the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction ;
- to provide European liaison officers specialising in combating sexual offences against children, as they do to combat drugs trafficking, inter alia making it easier to exchange information leading to the application of new legislation establishing extraterritorial jurisdiction in respect of the sexual exploitation of minors;
7. instruct the group of experts which deals with new technologies to draw up a draft Convention in this field, in order to restrict the illicit use of information highways, to make servers responsible and to put an end to anonymity;
8. support the idea of setting up an international criminal court with power to deal, inter alia, with crimes against humanity, by which is meant the traffic in human beings, sexual exploitation of children and any other large-scale international crime;
9. conduct an in depth study of the sexual exploitation of children and of child prostitution and pornography in the Council of Europe's member states;
10. invite member states' governments
- to carry out an information and awareness campaign covering the sexual exploitation of children, emphasising the serious damage caused to young people's psychosocial development;
- to combat sex tourism by prohibiting any action by tourist agencies to promote such tourism and by deterring those wishing to engage in this kind of tourism through films shown on aircraft and through leaflets handed to tourists leaving their aircraft;
- to include on school curricula information about the risks children might run and about ways of protecting themselves;
- to invite the media both to help to increase general awareness and to adopt appropriate ethical rules;
- to give particular attention to the victims of sexual abuse by providing appropriate support measures in the social and medical fields and by involving victims in the relevant investigations as far as possible.
Signed[1];
Van der Maelen, Belgium, SOC
Staes, Belgium, EPP
Maximus, Belgium, SOC
Ghesquière, Belgium, EPP
Clerfayt, Belgium, LDR
Valkeniers, Belgium, LDR
Eyskens, Belgium, EPP
Beaufays, Belgium, EPP
Harmegnies, Belgium, SOC
De Decker, Belgium, LDR
Bribosia-Picard, Belgium, EPP
[1] SOC : Socialist Group
EPP : Group of the European People's Party
EDG : European Democratic Group
LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers Group
UEL : Group of the Unified European Left