The Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (OPSC) supplements the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). It is the first instrument defining and expressly prohibiting the commercial sexual exploitation of children. As part of the monitoring process, its State Parties have to periodically submit a report on their progress towards the implementation of the goals established by the protocol.
The 2nd Edition of the ECPAT Agenda for Action Journal Series focuses on a few key good practice legal criteria in each of the three major manifestations of CSEC addressed in the OPSC – child sex tourism, child pornography and child prostitution. The journal focuses primarily on the good practice criteria likely to be most controversial or elicit the most objections, explains the benefit of these good practices, and provides responses to likely objections. Where possible, the journal illustrates these arguments through actual debates that occurred in countries that have managed to pass good practice laws, showing how domestic advocates managed to successfully plead their case. It presents examples of the recent legal developments in Australia, the Philippines and Sweden and data comparing the level of harmonisation with the OPSC achieved by 35 countries.
Legal advocacy will continue to be a key component of pursuing greater progress toward achieving the Agenda for Action, and these sections are thus intended to provide a useful resource for legal advocates seeking to strengthen CSEC laws in their countries by illuminating the key features for which they should be striving, preparing them to respond to objections, and providing concrete case studies that may serve as a model for replication.