The Ministerial Council of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe issued a decision last week, calling on all member states to strengthen their efforts in fighting all forms of child sexual exploitation. The ministerial decision reaffirmed several leading international treaties, protocols and previous ministerial decisions concerning child rights, trafficking of children and child sexual exploitation.
The Council also made specific reference to sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism (SECTT). Recalling the 2013 Addendum to the OSCE Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings, which called on member states to develop and implement policies, including inter-state law enforcement cooperation to prevent the tourism industry being used for the purpose of child trafficking and sexual exploitation.
The Council praised participating states that had made efforts to engage with private actors, such as travel agencies, hotels, trade associations and airlines in order to prevent all forms of child trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Read the full decision here.