CoE urges European governments to ratify Convention offering children better protection against sexual exploitation

The Council of Europe (CoE) calls on European governments to ratify the Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, which offers member states a valuable new tool for preventing and combating every kind of violation of children's fundamental rights. According to a press release issued by the Organization and quoted by Info-Prim Neo, CoE has pledged to draw governments' attention to the need to bring this Convention into force with all speed, and to offer support to the ratification process through the holding of regional conferences, the first of which will be held in Copenhagen (Denmark) on May 21 and 22. According to CoE, the Convention represents considerable progress in the effort to prevent sexual offenses against children, to prosecute perpetrators, to protect victims and to engage in international co-operation. It is the first international treaty that provides for criminal penalties for those who sexually abuse children, who tend to be known to their victims and whose offenses are among the most damaging to children. The Convention extends its scope to the Internet as well, identifying what specialists call 'grooming' – deliberate actions taken by an adult to form a trusting relationship with a child with the intent of later having sexual contact – as a new threat to the children surfing the Internet. The Convention also recommends the adoption of victim support programs and the setting up of telephone and Internet helplines for children. Since its adoption in October 2007, the Convention has been signed by 28 of the Council of Europe's 47 member states, including the Republic of Moldova.