Child abuse in institutions in Europe
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 26 January 2024 (7th sitting) (see Doc. 15889, report of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and
Sustainable Development, rapporteur: Mr Pierre-Alain Fridez; and
oral opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights,
rapporteur: Mr Constantinos Efstathiou). Text
adopted by the Assembly on 26 January 2024 (7th sitting).See
also Recommendation 2269
(2024).
1. In Europe, the abuse of children,
whether they have been victims of sexual predators, gratuitous violence or
ill-treatment in public, private or religious institutions that
are supposed to be safe havens, must never again be ignored. Too
many children’s futures have been shattered beyond repair. The exposure
of such human rights violations throughout Europe has also highlighted
serious errors of judgment and professional or ethical misconduct
committed by third parties. The accounts of these crimes are always
harrowing, whether they took place in orphanages in Ireland or Romania,
schools in Norway or Sweden, church-run institutions in Belgium, France,
Germany, Spain or Switzerland, farms in Switzerland or summer camps
in France.
2. A reality passed over in silence, the amount of suffering,
abuse and violence, be it sexual or otherwise, that children have
suffered in institutions in Europe is as intolerable as the impunity
that surrounds it and that persists today. The act of ignoring such
malicious acts, or refusing to acknowledge such abuse and the torment of
victims, plays a part in maintaining conditions that are conducive
to allowing such totally impermissible crimes to continue to this
day.
3. The Council of Europe, including the Parliamentary Assembly,
strongly supports children’s rights and their protection from abuse.
The Organisation has developed pioneering, binding standards and
norms, monitored their implementation, issued guidance and provided
support and capacity building through, in particular, the multidisciplinary
work of the Committee of the Parties to the Convention on the Protection
of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote
Committee), in which the Assembly participates. The Council of Europe
has established itself at the forefront of efforts to consolidate
children’s rights and, above all, as a driving force for positive
change.
4. “Freedom from violence for all children” and “Child-friendly
justice for all children”, two of the six objectives of the fourth
Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2022-2027),
remain priority areas for the Organisation, requiring “continuous
implementation”. These objectives and the achievement of the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.2 to “end abuse, exploitation,
trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children”
must remain a priority for all Council of Europe member States.
5. In order to reaffirm that combating violence against children
is a European priority and to ensure that national structures are
set up to prevent such violence effectively, the Assembly reiterates
the recommendations set out in
Resolution 2330 (2020) “Addressing
sexual violence against children: stepping up action and co-operation
in Europe” and in
Resolution
2294 (2019) “Ending violence against children: a Council of
Europe contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals” which
echoed
Resolution 2056
(2015) “The inclusion of children’s rights in national
constitutions as an essential component of effective national child policies”.
6. By promoting good practice, the Assembly seeks to open a Europe-wide
debate on the full reparation for all violence committed against
children. Violence takes many forms (and is not always sexual) and
its effects on victims today and on their development must be recognised
so that this full reparation truly reflects the seriousness of and
is proportionate to the harm done.
7. The Assembly therefore calls on all member States to:
7.1 take stock of the situation
of violence committed in public, private or religious institutions
against children in order to create the right conditions for victims
to speak out (including as adults) by ensuring they are treated
with respect and humanity;
7.2 analyse the circumstances conducive to such abuse, including
institutional care in public, private or religious settings, inadequate
care, foster care in private homes, the removal of children from
parents deemed to be “unfit”, forced adoption, etc.;
7.3 recognise the suffering endured and ensure complete management
of after-effects and consequences of all kinds (physical, emotional,
social, etc.);
7.4 issue an official and formal apology to past and present
victims;
7.5 prosecute and sanction perpetrators of these acts without
a statute of limitations;
7.6 encourage and support non-state institutions caring for
children and operating on the national territory to assume their
responsibilities and ensure that their responses also allow for
the full reparation for all violence committed against children;
7.7 ensure that victims, regardless of their age, who have
been subjected to any form of physical, sexual or psychological
violence are awarded an appropriate and adequate compensation that
is proportionate to the gravity of the harm done, as reparation
and repair for the damage suffered and its future effects, with
no time limit in relation to the date of the offence;
7.8 support the creation of memorials of institutional mistreatment
which highlight the Council of Europe’s fundamental values – human
rights, democracy and the rule of law – in order to educate future generations
about the best interests of the child and the protection of its
well-being;
7.9 embark on a comprehensive programme of prevention and
awareness-raising measures, including monitoring institutional care
facilities and any situation in which children are taken into care,
in order to minimise risks and be able to react quickly in cases
of abuse.
8. The Assembly also encourages the European Union and Morocco
to accede to the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection
of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (CETS No. 201, Lanzarote
Convention) in order to contribute to the Council of Europe’s efforts
to strengthen children’s rights and to work towards the eradication
of all forms of violence against children, and to combat new threats.
9. Lastly, the Assembly intends to update its handbook for parliamentarians
in order to support the implementation of the Lanzarote Convention
and to provide parliamentarians with effective instruments to combat
violence against children.
