A right to protection

Governments must do everything they can to protect children and young people from pornography, prostitution, illegal sex, and any other form of sexual abuse and exploitation, says the Convention on the Rights of the Child (article 34).

© UNICEF/HQ95-0657/Toutounji

A supportive family is key to protection from exploitation. Germaine (left) hugs her granddaughter in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.

Governments must also prevent children from being taken or sent away from their homes and exploited ('trafficked'), for any reason, including for use in the sex trade (article 35).

An additional ‘protocol’, or treaty, to the Convention deals in more detail with the commercial sexual exploitation of children — that is, the sexual use of children for money or any other payment. It is called the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. So far, 192 countries have signed and formally approved the Convention on the Rights of the Child. One hundred and fifteen have signed this optional 'protocol' (treaty) and 70 have formally approved it.

The protocol and other important international agreements, such as the Yokohama Global Commitment (2001) and the Declaration and Agenda for Action of Sexually Exploited Youth (1998), stress that we must all work together to confront the causes and effects of the crimes as well as the crimes themselves. The best way to do this is to protect and create respect for all children's rights.

In the list on the next page, the relevant rights in the Convention are followed by notes on how these rights apply and should be protected.