Combating sexual violence against children: towards a successful conclusion of the ONE in FIVE campaign

Motion for a resolution | Doc. 13401 | 28 January 2014

Committee

Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

The Council of Europe ONE in FIVE Campaign to stop sexual violence against children was launched in Rome on 29-30 November 2010 and is scheduled to run for four years in total. The aims of the campaign are twofold:

i to encourage the signature, ratification and implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Violence (“Lanzarote Convention”) in order to ensure that its provisions are transposed into the policies and legislation of as many countries as possible;

ii to promote maximum awareness of the extent of sexual violence against children, and provide the means of preventing it.

As underlined in Recommendation 2013 (2013) on “Parliaments united in combating sexual violence against children: mid-term review of the ONE in FIVE Campaign”, the biggest success of the campaign so far has no doubt been the ratification of the Lanzarote Convention by 29 member States to date.

However, the Council of Europe must not rest on its laurels: 1 signature and 18 ratifications are still outstanding. Full implementation of the Convention in member states (and beyond) also needs to be assured, at international, national and local/regional levels. The Parliamentary Assembly remains very active in the campaign on multiple levels. The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities has recently stepped up its activities within the framework of the campaign.

The Assembly believes that the timeframe left to reach the campaign’s aims – until November 2014 – is too short. It thus recommends the prolongation of the campaign for one extra year until November 2015 in order to reap the maximum benefits.

The Assembly further suggests considering the instauration of a European Day to fight sexual violence against children as of 2016 to carry over the benefits of the campaign in another form.