Global Progress Towards Ending the Sexual Exploitation of Children

The age of sexual consent is the legally defined age at which a person is considered mature enough to agree to sexual activity. The age of sexual consent varies across jurisdictions around the world and there is no international legal instrument establishing it, however various forms of advocacy have encouraged States to establish a minimum age under which engaging in sexual contact is considered a criminal offence. This is intended to prevent sexual contact with children and to prevent argument that the child consented as a defence.

Often national provisions related to the age of sexual consent include an exception, known as a close-in-age exemption, making consensual sexual activities between young people lawful if the partners are of similar ages and the age difference is not higher than a certain number of years.

To ensure that cases of child sexual exploitation do not go unpunished, ECPAT advocates for the age of sexual consent to be set at 18 for both males and females with a close-in-age exemption of 2-3 years provided in order to ensure young people are not penalised for consensual sexual acts with peers. The age from which the exemption applies should be established by States but may begin for young people somewhere between 12 and 16 years of age.

Extraterritorial jurisdiction refers to a State’s ability to exercise authority beyond its territorial limits. Extradition provisions allow for an offender to be returned by the State where the offender is found to the country where an offence was committed to face prosecution and/or punishment.

Effective extraterritorial legislation and extradition mechanisms are particularly important considering sexual exploitation of children sometimes includes transnational offending. For examples cases occur in the context of travel and tourism where the offenders’ country of origin differs from the victims’ country of origin. Offences may even occur in a third country that neither offender nor victim are from. Child sex offenders in the context of travel and tourism tend to choose destinations known for their lenient laws. Strong legal frameworks that include extraterritoriality and extradition mechanisms can deter offending, as well as reduce impunity for offenders by facilitating swift law enforcement and legal processes that bring them to justice for their crimes.

Many countries have a system in place to prosecute sexual offences involving children committed abroad by a citizen or against a national victim however, this is not always the case. In addition, exercising extraterritoriality jurisdiction and extradition procedures are often hampered by legal obstacles. Specifically, in many countries double criminality[1] is required to prosecute sexual offences against children occurring abroad or to grant the request of extradition. The need for consistent legal frameworks for sexual exploitation of children is therefore crucial.

[1] According to the double criminality requirement, the offence must be prohibited both in the perpetrator’s country of origin and in the country where the offence was committed. Double criminality is often required for certain sexual offences against children. This means that extradition can only take place if the offence for which the person is sought by the requesting State is also punishable under the law of the requested State. It is recommended that countries adopt legislation that enables them to establish and exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction without the criterion of double criminality.

The term ‘child sexual abuse material’ (CSAM) is increasingly being used to replace the older term ‘child pornography’ used in the main legal instruments. The older term is misleading and undermines the gravity of these crimes. Its use suggests that images of child sexual abuse are just another form of pornography, and distracts from the fact that they are actually images of a serious crime. To be fully comprehensive, the definition of child sexual abuse material should:

• Be directly in line with the guidance provided by Article 2(C) of the OPSC;
• Cover any type of material (i.e. visual –images, videos, drawings – and audio material);
• Also cover material depicting a person appearing to be a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct (Budapest Convention, Article 9(2));
• Cover computer/digitally generated child sexual abuse material including realistic images of non-existent children (Budapest Convention, Article 9(2)).

Criminal background checks are an important tool to prevent convicted child sex offenders from working in close contact with children. The criminal background checks should be required by law for every national and non-national individual working in positions that involve or facilitate direct contact with children as a requirement of their job, in both public and private settings.

Furthermore, it is encouraged that legislation specifically prohibits individuals convicted of sexual offences (especially those involving children) from holding paid or voluntary positions that involve or facilitate direct contact with children.

In regards to ensuring States have legal and policy frameworks that fully and comprehensively address the range of relevant aspects of SEC, the following international and regional legal instruments shall be ratified and implemented as they constitute comprehensive legal tools for protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation:

• Convention on the Rights of the Child;
• Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography;
• Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure;
• Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime;
• International Labour Organizations’ s Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour No.182;
• United Nations World Tourism Organization’s Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics.

While the following two conventions are regional commitments for member States of the Council of Europe, the guidance they provide is highly relevant to SEC and thus we include assessments of all countries against them for this indicator. While it may not be required for States outside this region to comply with these conventions, they are a useful measure of national legal frameworks related to SEC and they are open for accession by States which are not members of the Council of Europe.

• Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote Convention);
• Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention).

For member states of the African Union, reference should also be made to the ratification of:

• African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child;
• African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection.

A Child Advocacy Center primarily aims to reduce the re-traumatisation of children by limiting how many times they have to speak about their traumatic experience by coordinating the professionals who may need to have contact with the child – rather than the child having to go through multiple processes, and all using consistent approaches that meet evidentiary requirements. Following this approach has proven to deliver more consistent and accurate statements and information from children that are useful in the criminal justice process. A key element of the model is to coordinate parallel judicial proceedings and child welfare investigations while ensuring support for the victim lasting throughout the process.

Furthermore, it aims to stop the cycle of poverty and re-trafficking by offering education and vocational training in addition to counselling and mental health services to address the full spectrum of needs for trafficked and exploited children. The further strength of the CAC model is that it can also enable partnership with foreign and local law enforcement, governmental agencies and local entities and individuals involved in the protection of child victims, such as NGOs and frontline service providers. The model also employs a multidisciplinary team approach, which helps to ensure that best practice and specialised care is provided by all involved with the child. The cooperation fostered between the local multidisciplinary teams and law enforcement officials who are based in the centres also creates trust and collaboration

Additional to strong legal framework, policing of these laws is also needed. States must establish and fund dedicated police units that specifically include in their mandate to investigate crimes of child sexual exploitation occurring within both national and extra-territorial jurisdictions. These units should not only be established but also be appropriately resourced both financially and in terms of adequate human resources.

Businesses in the travel and tourism industry are in a unique position to identify the most vulnerable and to prevent the crime of sexual exploitation of children along with its online elements. Beyond moral imperative, there is a need for clear legal obligation for business to take an active role in eradicating this crime, along with intergovernmental bodies, national governments and civil society organizations.

The existence and availability of national level data about the sexual exploitation of children is needed to effectively direct national efforts to address the sexual exploitation of children. This data may inform prevention efforts, legal and policy development for the punishment of perpetrators and the provision of quality support services (and financial aid) for children who have experienced sexual exploitation.
At the minimum, data should be disaggregated by age of the victims (children/adults but also different age ranges among child victims) and the perpetrators, gender, nationality of the victim and the perpetrators, type of abuse/exploitation.