It is reassuring to know that abundant work is being done to ensure the protection of children from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. The Council of Europe Convention on Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, also known as the ‘Lanzarote Convention’, requires criminalisation of all kinds of sexual offences against children.
It sets out that states in Europe and beyond shall adopt specific legislation and take measures to both prevent sexual violence and protect child victims and also to prosecute perpetrators.
This article explores the contributions of the Lanzarote Committee of the Council of Europe and the role of the various local bodies involved in pushing forward the Lanzarote Convention’s agenda at different levels of intervention.
The Lanzarote Convention is the first international treaty that addresses child sexual abuse that occurs within the home or family. It was signed in 2007 and came into force in 2010. Malta ratified the convention in 2011.
Thirty-nine other states ratified theconvention by September 2015. This means that most European countries, and beyond, appreciate the need formore structured and serious intervention in the protection of children againstsexual abuse.
States that ratified this convention commit themselves to criminalise sexual activity with children below the legal age of consent regardless of the context in which such behavior occurs, including child pornography and child prostitution.
Part of the remit of the Lanzarote Committee (the committee of the countries who are involved with the Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse) is to set out measures to prevent child sexual exploitation through educational measures with children.
The committee is the body established by the Council of Europe to monitor the effective implementation of the Lanzarote Convention. In doing so, the committee evaluates the information which has been provided by the national authorities and other sources in their replies to the questionnaires developed by the committee itself. This monitoring procedure is divided into rounds, each round concerning a particular theme.
Currently, the first monitoring round of the convention’s implementation focuses on the abuse of children within the circle of trust.
The work to get Malta in line with the convention started immediately upon ratification. The results can be seen from the increasing number of reports and prosecution
This deserved attention on the circle of trust is because abuse in the circle of trust is the most common form of child abuse in all European countries. Following this focus, further monitoring rounds will concentrate on other aspects of child sexual abuse like trafficking, child pornography and so on.
There is a lot going on locally too. The work to get Malta in line with the convention started immediately upon the ratification. The results can be seen from the increasing number of reports and prosecution, in themselves a sign of empowerment by the victims and their families who previously felt they had to keep it secret. Laws have been amended and added to complement existing ones and fill existing gaps. Act No.4 of 2014 introduced novelties in the context of child pornography with the objective of increasing punishment of most offences in the Criminal Code involving underage persons with a particular focus on sexual offences.
By virtue of the new article 208C, this Act also introduced a new offence in the Criminal Code ensuring that inciting or aiding and abetting to commit any of the offences involving persons underage is punishable as well.
Local services have also been improved to meet to changing needs of victims and their families. The Foundation for Social Welfare Services has just recently organized a seminar to commemorate the first European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse.
This aimed to both bring awareness among professionals and the general public about the constantly changing reality of child sexual abuse and the work being done about it.
Through its hardworking staff and services, and in collaboration with other services including Victim Support Malta, the police, the Commissioner for Children, and others, the foundation delivers various support programmes and protection services to children and their families.
The foundation itself has also just embarked on an EU project introducing the ‘barnhaus’ model of dealing with victims of child sexual abuse. Of course, the child protection services do sterling work in this regard and to ensure the safety of victims. The role of the Commissioner for Children is also important in this matter. As the local ambassador of children’s rights, the commissioner works at delivering prophylactic projects. The publication of printed and audiovisual material is a witness of the commissioner’s office commitment to combating child sexual abuse.
There’s also a local monitoring working group that’s just been established within the Ministry for the Family and Social Solidarity. It is an inter-ministerial and inter-agency working group whose roleis to ensure that Malta keeps developingits law in line with the convention and to facilitate and empower local services and make recommendations.
Of course, there’s always something else to do, something to improve. The Lanzarote Committee is there for that reason.
As we evolve through time and the endless cultural and social changes, we face new challenges. For example migration, wars, and poverty all offer fertile terrain for abuse and these need to be explored and action taken.
Our local challenges still continue and child sexual abuse and violence will change and evolve. Yet Malta will continue developing its strategies to fight not only child sexual abuse, but also child trafficking, child pornography, child prostitution, violence on children, violence in schools and bullying, domestic violence and more.
Combating all forms of violence against children is not only Malta’s priority but also one of the main objectives of the Council of Europe’s programme ‘Building a Europe for and with Children’. Effective prevention of and reaction to violence, along with effective safeguarding of the rights of the child, call for a strategic and multidisciplinary approach.
Charlie Azzopardi is a systemic psychotherapist who specialises in couple and family therapy.