Splintered Lives - Barnardo's

PAGE 8
chapter
3
Current international law
and policy
A number of international laws and conventions have been developed in relation to sexual
exploitation and trafficking in children, but the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
brings these together within an overall framework of children's rights. Signatories to the
convention are obligated to fulfill its recommendations, a number of which refer explicitly to
sexual exploitation. Children's rights experts and advocates argue that the convention needs
to be taken as a whole, and that the combination of provision, protection and participation
needs to be remembered in any policy developments on specific areas. With the above
caveat in mind we reproduce below the articles which refer explicitly to sexual exploitation 5 .
Article 34
States Parties undertake to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation
and sexual abuse. For these purposes States Parties shall in particular take
appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent:
a) the inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity;
b) the exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful practices;
c) the exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials.
Article 35
States parties shall take appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures
to prevent the abduction, the sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or in any
forms.
Article 39
States parties shall take all appropriate measures to promote physical and
psychological recovery and social re-integration of child victims of: any form of
neglect, exploitation, or abuse; torture or any other form of cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment; or armed conflicts. Such recovery and reintegration
shall take place in an environment which fosters the health, selfrespect
and dignity of the child.
Each of these three clauses are 'protective' - obliging states to act. But contributors at the
Brussels seminar concurred that few states, or international bodies (one example offered was
limited work by UNICEF) have made sexual exploitation a priority. There is even less
evidence of the three foundations of the Convention - protection, provision (in terms of
material resources and services to children) and participation - informing responses.
Another specifically relevant section is Article 17 A, which discusses information which may
be damaging to children, making children's contact with pornography an issue of concern,
and at the same time flags up the importance of access to information about non-exploitative
sexuality. The Articles which address children's access to justice are also relevant if one of
our concerns is to provide forms of redress.
The European Forum for Child Welfare 1993 discussion paper takes the convention as its
starting point in setting a research and policy development plan (summarised below).
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5
A 'special rapporteur' has been appointed to monitor the implementation of the sections of the convention which relate to the
sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and the appointee makes regular reports to the UN; several of which
have been used in the preparation of this document. Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn resigned from his position in late 1994, citing
personal reasons and lack of support from the UN.