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Studie van de Secretaris Generaal van de Verenigde Naties brengt geweld tegen kinderen in kaart - 16/10/2006

12 oktober 2006- Volgens de studie van de Secretaris Generaal van de Verenigde Naties over geweld bij kinderen die gisteren aan de Algemene Vergadering van de VN werd voorgesteld, blijven heel wat vormen van geweld tegen kinderen verborgen en sociaal aanvaard. Voor het eerst geeft een studie een gedetailleerd globaal overzicht van de reikwijdte en de schaal van het geweld tegen kinderen.

Geweld tegen kinderen omvat fysiek geweld, psychologisch geweld, discriminatie, verwaarlozing en mishandeling. Het gaat van seksueel misbruik thuis tot fysieke en vernederende straffen op school, van het gebruik van dwangbuizen in instellingen tot brutaal geweld door ordehandhavers; van misbruik en verwaarlozing in instellingen tot bendeoorlogen in de straten, van kindermoord tot zogenaamd “eerbaar” doden.

“De beste wijze om geweld tegen kinderen aan te pakken, is het te voorkomen”, zegt Professor Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, de onafhankelijke expert die door de VN-Secretaris Generaal werd aangeduid om deze studie te coördineren. “Iedereen heeft hierbij een rol te spelen, maar de Staten moeten de eerste verantwoordelijkheid opnemen. Dat wil zeggen het verbieden van alle vormen van geweld tegen kinderen, ongeacht waar het plaatsgrijpt en wie de dader is alsook het investeren in preventieprogramma’s om de onderliggende oorzaken aan te pakken. Mensen moeten verantwoordelijk gesteld worden voor hun daden. Een sterk juridisch kader moet echter niet enkel oog hebben voor sancties, maar eveneens een duidelijk signaal versturen dat stelt dat de maatschappij geweld tegen kinderen niet langer zal aanvaarden.”

De studie, die aandacht heeft voor aspecten betreffende mensenrechten, publieke gezondheid en kinderbescherming, richt zich op vijf situaties waarbinnen geweld voorkomt: thuis en in het gezin, in instellingen, in de samenleving, op straat en tot slot op de werkvloer.

Extreem geweld tegen kinderen kan de krantenkoppen halen, maar de studie stelt vast dat voor vele kinderen geweld een alledaags aspect uit hun leven vormt.

Vele geweldsdaden blijven verborgen of onopgemerkt. Hierdoor zijn de cijfers ter zake vaak onderschat en geven ze de werkelijke omvang van het probleem niet weer. Toch geven enkele cijfers uit de studie een ontstellend beeld.

Enkele voorbeelden:

• De Wereldgezondheidsorganisatie (WHO) schat dat in 2005 ongeveer 53.000 kinderen tussen 0 en 17 jaar door moord om het leven kwamen;
• Volgens de laatste schattingen van het Internationaal Arbeidsbureau (ILO) werden in 2000 ongeveer 5,7 miljoen kinderen gedwongen tewerkgesteld en kwamen 1,8 miljoen kinderen in prostitutie en pornografie terecht. 1,2 miljoen werden het slachtoffer van kinderhandel;
• Uit gezondheidsonderzoek in scholen in 16 ontwikkelingslanden blijkt dat het aantal kinderen dat naar eigen zeggen de voorbije 30 dagen het slachtoffer werd van verbale of fysieke pesterijen schommelde van 20 % tot 65 % van alle kinderen op schoolgaande leeftijd;
• Volgens de studie worden kinderen in gevangenschap geregeld het slachtoffer van geweld door het personeel van de instelling als reactie op vaak kleine inbreuken;
• In 77 landen zijn lijfstraffen of andere gewelddadige straffen in gerechtelijke instellingen aanvaard als legale disciplinaire maatregelen

De gevolgen kunnen variëren, afhankelijk van de aard en de ernst van de geweldsdaad. Toch zijn de gevolgen op zowel korte als lange termijn vaak ernstig en schadelijk voor kinderen. De fysieke, emotionele en psychologische littekens van geweld kunnen ernstige gevolgen hebben voor hun ontwikkeling, gezondheid en leercapaciteiten. Onderzoek wees uit dat het ondergaan van geweld tijdens de kinderjaren vaak samengaat met risicogedrag op latere leeftijd zoals roken, alcohol- en druggebruik, fysieke inactiviteit en zwaarlijvigheid. Op hun beurt dragen deze gedragingen bij tot sommige van de belangrijkste oorzaken van ziekte en dood zoals kanker, depressie, zelfmoord en cardiovasculaire aandoeningen.

“Ongeacht waar het geweld voorkomt, in het gezin, op school, de gemeenschap, instelling en/of op de werkplaats…de gezondheidswerkers staan op de frontlinie om in te grijpen bij geweld tegen kinderen.”, zegt Dr. Anders Nordstrom, Dienstdoend Algemeen Directeur van de Wereldgezondheidsorganisatie. “We moeten onze bijdrage leveren om dergelijk geweld te voorkomen in de eerste plaats en als het voorkomt, ervoor zorgen dat de getroffen kinderen de nodige zorg krijgen om de gevolgen ervan tot een minimum te beperken. De staten zouden een gericht beleid moeten uitwerken waarbij de oorzaken van geweld worden aangepakt en de reactie erop nauwgezet wordt opgevolgd. “

“Geweld tegen kinderen is een aantasting van hun basisrechten en een verontrustend verschijnsel in onze samenleving”, stelt Louise Arbour, VN Hoog Commissaris voor de Mensenrechten. “Het kan nooit worden gerechtvaardigd, noch voor disciplinaire redenen, noch als traditioneel cultureel gebruik. Een notie als “redelijk niveau van geweld” is onaanvaardbaar. Legaal geweld tegen kinderen in een bepaalde context, riskeert de tolerantie van geweld tegen kinderen in het algemeen te verhogen.”

“Geweld heeft blijvende gevolgen. Niet enkel voor de betrokken kinderen en hun familie maar ook voor de maatschappijen en naties in het algemeen”, stelt Ann M. Veneman, Algemeen Directeur van UNICEF. “Deze uitgebreide studie over de impact van geweld tegen kinderen is van groot belang”.

Het rapport aan de Algemene Vergadering pleit voor een hele reeks acties om geweld tegen kinderen aan te pakken. 12 aanbevelingen verwijzen naar acties inzake de uitwerking van nationale en regionale strategieën , data inzameling en het toewijzen van verantwoordelijkheden.

Op wereldwijd niveau pleit het rapport voor de aanstelling van een Speciale Vertegenwoordiger voor Geweld tegen Kinderen, met een initieel mandaat van 4 jaar, die als wereldwijd pleitbezorger zou optreden om geweld tegen kinderen te voorkomen en de samenwerking en opvolging te bevorderen.


De studie van de Secretaris Generaal van de Verenigde Naties over geweld bij kinderen

In 2001 vroeg de Algemene Vergadering aan de Secretaris Generaal van de VN om een diepgaand onderzeek uit te voeren naar het geweld tegen kinderen . Onafhankelijk expert Professor Paulo Sèrgio Pinheiro werd later aangeduid om dit onderzoek te leiden in samenwerking met het Bureau van de Hoge Commissaris voor de mensenrechten (OHCHR), het Kinderfonds van de Verenigde Naties (UNICEF) en de Wereldgezondheidsorganisatie (WHO).

In België

België was nauw betrokken bij de hele voorbereiding van de studie via het beantwoorden van de vragenlijst verstuurd naar de overheid in 2004, de deelname aan de regionale consultaties van landen in Europa en Centraal Azië in juli 2005 (Ljubljana) en door een deel van de studie te financieren. Ook de kinderrechtenorganisaties volgden de totstandkoming van de studie op de voet. UNICEF België in samenwerking met de Kinderrechtencommissaris en de Délégué aux droits de l’enfant organiseren een conferentie over het geweld bij kinderen in december 2006 in aanwezigheid van Professor Pinheiro, de onafhankelijke expert die belast werd met de realisatie van deze studie. Ook andere experten op het gebied van kinderrechten zoals de Kinderrechtencoalitie Vlaanderen, de Franstalige kinderrechtencoördinatie, en de Vereniging voor de Verenigde Naties (VVN) verlenen hierbij hun medewerking.

Voor bijkomende inlichtingen:

UNICEF België : Isabelle Marneffe T 02/23059.70 – imarneffe@unicef.be

June Kane, Lead Communication Officer, UN Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children: 1-917-640-0184.
OHCHR: José Díaz, Spokesperson (Geneva), +41 22 917 9242; Renata Sivacolundhu, Information Officer UN HQ, +1 212 963 2932.
WHO: Laura Sminkey, Technical Officer Advocacy & Communications + 41 79 249 3520
UNICEF International: Karen Dukess (NY); 1-212-326-7910. kdukess@unicef.org.
WHO: Laura Sminkey, Technical Officer,Advocacy & Communications: +41 79 249 3520

Andere organisaties actief op het vlak van kinderrechten in België:
Kinderrechtencommissariaat, Ankie Vandeckerckhove, 02/552.98.00

Kinderrechtencoalitie Vlaanderen, Nele Willems, 09/225.90.25.

Délégué général aux droits de l’enfant, Claude Lelièvre, 02/223.36.99.

La Coordination des ONG pour les droits de l’enfant, Frédérique Van Houcke, 02/209.61.60.

Beeldmateriaal beschikbaar via www.thenewsmarket.com

make-IT-safe - 20/04/2005
make-IT-safe is a global campaign to make IT safe for children and young people everywhere.

Our goal is to get the IT industry and governments to take responsibility for making online and interactive technologies safe for children and young people.

The make-IT-safe campaign unites children’s groups in 67 countries led by ECPAT International and the Children’s Charities Coalition for Internet Safety.

Support make-IT-safe – sign our online petition and lobby IT companies, government and media.

      What does make-IT-safe want?

We are lobbying IT leaders to create a global child protection body to set and implement global industry standards, research safety technologies and fund a global educational campaign.

We also call on governments to adopt IT child protection policies to ensure industry responsibility, to enable international legal co-operation against online child abuse, and to provide care and protection for children abused or exposed to harmful images and messages online.

      Why do we need to make-IT-safe?

Children and young people are leading users of the internet, chat rooms, web cams, peer2peer, mobile phones and electronic games - at home, at school, at internet cafés, everywhere.

These technologies bring great benefits, and great risks – risks of sexual exploitation and child pornography, and exposure to sexual predators as well as to damaging images or messages.

Some IT companies and governments are working to protect children and young people online. But it’s not enough. The proof is there every day in our courts, the news and in thousands upon thousands of injured children. That must change.

Parents, educators and children’s groups all have their part to play. But only the IT industry and governments can deliver the technological, legal and financial resources needed to ensure the safety of children and young people online and in interactive technologies. The make-IT-safe campaign is dedicated to ensuring they do so.

Tsunami Emergency Information - 11/01/2005
Tsunami Emergency Information

'Stop kinderprostitutie' informatiecampagne - 22/09/2004
Op 30 september 2004 wordt in het Egmontpaleis te Brussel de aftrap gegeven van een nieuwe nationale informatiecampagne tegen de seksuele uitbuiting van kinderen. Deze campagne, die loopt onder de naam "stop kinderprostitutie", kwam tot stand onder impuls van ECPAT België en de Federale Politie, in samenwerking met Child Focus, en enkele ondernemingen uit de privé en de openbare sector.

De campagne wil de bevolking aansporen om de oogkleppen af te zetten en feiten van kindermisbruik altijd en overal aan te geven, zelfs indien men tijdens een verblijf in het buitenland de indruk heeft gekregen dat kinderprostitutie er oogluikend aanvaard wordt of in de lokale traditie past.

De campagne richt zich niet alleen naar de toerist, maar ook naar mensen die om professionele redenen korte of langere tijd in het buitenland verblijven. Minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Karel De Gucht wenst als gastheer voor het lanceren van deze perscampagne, de betrokkenheid en inzet van zijn Departement in deze strijd te benadrukken.

www.stopkinderprostitutie.be

Joint East West Research on Trafficking in Children for Sexual Purposes in Europe: The Sending Countries - 21/04/2004
ECPAT Europe Law Enforcement Group Programme against Trafficking in Children for sexual purposes in Europe

Edited by Muireann O’Briain, Anke van den Borne, Theo Noten


This report is the second part of a study undertaken by the ECPAT Europe Law Enforcement Group into trafficking in children for sexual purposes in Europe. The Group is coordinated by ECPAT Netherlands/Defence for Children International-Section The Netherlands. The first part of the research (‘Trafficking I’), published in 2001, had concluded that there was a need for further research in the Eastern European countries of origin, and for such research to be carried out in collaboration with partners in those countries.
Focusing on legislation, law enforcement, co-operation and prevention, and the care facilities available to child victims, these current research results are intended to indicate the formulation of specific policy recommendations, as well as to share practical ideas for prevention, training and cooperation.
The research has been co-financed by the STOP II programme of the European Commission as well as by the Oak Foundation.

International Legal Framework
Great attention is being paid worldwide to the problem of trafficking in human beings, including children as a special category of victims, and in Europe in particular very concrete measures are being taken to combat it. The ultimate global international legal instrument is the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime. The Convention and Protocol are already in force, although adopted only in the year 2000. The extremely rapid rate of ratification demonstrates the worldwide political concern about the powers of organised criminal groups and the levels of crime associated with migration. Under the Protocol children are considered as victims of trafficking once they were recruited, transported, transferred, harboured or received for the purposes of exploitation. Another relevant instrument is the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (OP) which contains measures designed to protect the rights and interests of child victims of trafficking.
In the European context, a Council Framework Decision on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings will ultimately lead to the approximation of the criminal laws of the member states concerning trafficking in human beings. The focus of the European Commission is to tackle, through legislative means, those who engage in trafficking in human beings and the economic exploitation of migrants, including children.

Results of Trafficking I: Focus on Western Europe
The Report of Trafficking I had concluded that trafficking of minors for sexual purposes occurred within Western Europe, but that more in-depth research is needed to prevent and combat the phenomenon. Where it was possible to get information about the ages of minors from Eastern European countries involved in prostitution, they were mostly between the ages of 15 and 18, but children as young as ten years of age had also been found. In several of the researched countries it was found that the girls who had come from Eastern Europe to the west had been tricked by false promises of work or marriage, or had fallen in love with the person who ultimately forced them into prostitution. Force and blackmail were common methods used to keep the victims under control. Asylum procedures were found to have been used to gain entry for and access to trafficked minors in several Western European countries. The involvement of organised criminal groups was found to vary from complex international networks to small criminal groups or even families.

Trafficking II: Joint East West Research, the Sending Countries
This second part of the project is based on a ‘twinning’ concept of cooperation, between so-called ‘sending’ and ‘receiving’ countries. The Western European partners were the same countries and organisations as had been involved in Trafficking I. The Eastern European partners were chosen for their previous experience in research on similar subjects, or for their work on child protection in their countries. The research teams and their methodologies are set out in the report. The following partner countries have been involved:
Albania – UK
Belarus – Belgium
Czech Republic – Germany
Estonia – Finland
Moldova – Italy
Romania – France
Russia – Norway
Ukraine – The Netherlands


Research Results

General Situation
The research results show that there are many similarities between the Eastern European project countries in terms of their political, social and economic situations, all of which affect the issue of trafficking in minors for sexual purposes. In every country poverty and unemployment have seriously increased in the last ten years, due to the political changes in the region, and the resulting economic instability. The main risk group is teenagers, from 13 to 18, the majority of those trafficked being in the age group of 15 to 17 years. When poverty affects families, many social problems arise that have adverse effects on young people. The reports mention alcoholism, single-parent families, drug abuse, sexual abuse and domestic violence as alienating factors. Children born into or living in situations of social and economic poverty tend to drop-out of school, to leave home and live on the streets, to migrate from rural areas to towns and cities.
Many people, and especially young people, are migrating, because of the lack of opportunities for them in their own countries. The fall of the ‘Iron Curtain’ and the links with countries of the European Union have opened up both borders and travel opportunities, and at the same time the increasing gap between rich and poor, the growth of international organised crime, and indifference, ignorance and possible corruption among officials, provide their own incentives or opportunities. Some of the researched countries have experienced migration of young people both into and out of the country to service the sex industry. Other countries see mostly the emigration of their young populations to service the sex industry and labour markets abroad. A combination of economic and political factors at home creates the climate in which young people want to emigrate, including low pay, insecurity of employment, and the inadequacy of the educational systems to respond to the labour market. Low levels of community and parental involvement with young people and negative perceptions among young people about their futures in their own country are also important ‘push’ factors. But lack of information about foreign travel, and about the risks related to migration, endanger children. The search for adventure, idealised notions about living abroad, and success stories from those who return from abroad encourage risk-taking. Very importantly, the reports note the risks to children who may have migrated normally with their families or voluntarily on their own, but who end up in foreign countries without any protections, and become extremely vulnerable to exploitation.
In-country migration, where young people move from rural areas to towns and cities and end up in prostitution, is mentioned in several reports.
A description of national responses from the project countries shows that in six countries researched there is a state programme to combat trafficking in human beings, including children. But in two countries there are no current national plans to combat trafficking.

The Demand Factor
On the whole, the demand for minors as sexual partners appears to reflect opportunism on the part of clients to a large supply of vulnerable young people, rather than a demand for underage sex. However some specific demand for young children is mentioned in the Romanian report which describes the demand for young boys in Western European countries, and the Moldovan research mentions the sale of virgin girls. Some reports emphasise the use of young children in the making of pornography as a growing feature of sexual exploitation of minors in their countries. The demand that emerges from the reports includes foreign tourists (Czech Republic, Estonia, Russia), UN peacekeepers (Moldova), the military (Russia), paedophiles (Czech Republic, Russia), and of course the domestic market. Traffickers accept any transaction that brings profits, and take into account not only the demand from the destination countries but also the fact that children do not know their rights and cannot protect themselves as well as adults. The fact that girls are under age does not seem to be relevant to a client, but for a trafficker young people are more easily influenced and controlled (by violence or other means).

Numbers of Children Involved
No country could provide reliable statistics on the number of children trafficked into, within, or out from their country, which is inherent in the secret and criminal nature of the problem. Numbers mentioned in the different country reports vary from a few to several hundreds. The most reliable figures quoted are provided by the International Organization for Migration. However, even the IOM figures have to be understood as representing only those victims who have been identified and offered a process of return to their own countries. Only occasionally is the percentage of minors among the total number of returnees known. IOM estimates on the percentage of child victims among the victim population differ widely and range from 6-7% for Belarus to 30% for Moldova. There is also evidence that trafficked adults were trafficked when they were underage.
It is clear, however, that the young people who do fall victim to traffickers and exploiters are very harshly treated, and that the traffic of young people needs to be addressed separately within the overall problem of trafficking in human beings. Specific case studies from the project countries are detailed throughout the report.
The reports tend to show that many young people simply fall into the hands of traffickers in pursuit of a better life and through their own vulnerability. There are no figures available for minors who leave their countries unaccompanied, but there is information that large numbers of unaccompanied minors fall prey to sexual exploitation in destination countries. Prevention strategies are therefore needed in sending and destination countries.

Sending, Transit, and Destination Countries
All Eastern European countries of the project appear to be receiving, transit or destination countries for trafficked minors, the extent of the problem being directly related to the economic situation in the country. Traditional migration routes, and traditional forms of transport, are used, including cars, trains, and buses. The travel will be made to look as normal and ‘legal’ as possible, using stolen, altered or forged documents. Traffickers usually take the easiest routes, through regular border crossings, but also ‘green routes’ through forests and areas not patrolled by border guards. Minors are not only trafficked to Western Europe but also to Central and Southern Europe, including Turkey. Even Asia and the Middle East were mentioned by several countries as destination countries. Because of the easy visa regime between the CIS countries, a lot of child trafficking takes place within those countries. In-country trafficking is common from rural areas with high unemployment to towns and cities.

The Trafficking Chain
Recruitment of young people happens on the streets, and also via the Internet and sometimes advertisements in magazines and newspapers, with offers of highly-paid work and easy money in another country. Girls who have been trafficked mostly end up in prostitution. But children are not only trafficked for sexual purposes. The younger ones especially seem to be used for begging and manual labour, such as agricultural work. Minors are often lured into a trafficking operation with their apparent consent, but they will have been misled about the job they will do, and their working conditions. Children are also misled with offers to study abroad or to marry a foreigner. Children’s homes can be fertile recruiting grounds for traffickers. The ‘loverboy’ syndrome, noticed particularly in Belarus, Estonia and The Netherlands, is another ruse whereby girls are seduced first and then sexually exploited and coerced into prostitution. Even the sale of children, by parents or relatives, is common. Simple abduction of a minor rarely happens. Frequently the recruiters are previous victims (described in the Russian report as ‘second wave’ victims), who are either sent back to their country as recruiters, or set up in business for themselves. Violence is rarely used until the young person is completely under the control of the trafficker, and his/her documentation has been confiscated, but violence is then usual as a means of intimidation. Drug and alcohol addiction are commonly used to ensure compliant behaviour. Children work under harsh circumstances, servicing many clients, and living in difficult conditions. Victims first have to pay back the travel and other expenses to the traffickers. After the debt is repaid, victims can be re-sold, and the same cycle starts all over.

Legislation, Law Enforcement and Organised Criminality
Most countries have adopted legislative changes in recent years incorporating anti-trafficking provisions. Despite a dedication in the countries of Eastern Europe to combat trafficking in human beings, the legislative environment to protect children from trafficking remains weak in all of the Eastern European countries studied, with the exception of Romania. In some countries the current legislation should be adequate to prosecute traffickers, but others say that their legislation is inoperable. The reports from Belarus, the Czech Republic, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine all comment on the failure of the governments to even recognize that there is a problem of trafficking in children, so there is a lack of urgency towards legislative reform.
On the other hand, considerable progress has been made since the Trafficking I project in the ratification by states of the relevant international instruments (the Trafficking Protocol and the OP to the CRC), which together with the EU Council Framework Decision, are leading steadily towards harmonised legislation including a common definition of trafficking and equivalent penalties.
Incidents of child trafficking are frequently prosecuted under provisions that cover procuring, kidnapping, abduction, or rape. Law enforcement is a problem everywhere, and there are hardly any successful prosecutions detailed. Penalties tend to be severe for cases of proven trafficking, but mild where the prosecutions are pursued under other provisions such as procurement.
Little information was available on the involvement of organised crime in the trafficking of children. Some reports concluded that it would be a mistake to exaggerate the importance of organized crime in relation to child trafficking. It appears that in many cases, the traffickers are the families themselves, or are small-time criminals. While it is therefore important not to assume that trafficking is always the work of organized criminal gangs, it should be recalled that many children do fall into the hands of such gangs, and suffer terrible consequences.

Child Care and Protection: Prevention, Rehabilitation, Repatriation
Prevention projects are described in the reports. Most of these projects deal with public awareness campaigns directed towards the general public, government officials and professionals, as well as specific risk groups. Some schools include information in the teaching curriculum, or train young people as peer communicators. Telephone hotlines are another way in which people can get information on the risks of trafficking, and about the help that is available to victims.
There is a serious lack of rehabilitation programmes offering psychological, social, medical and legal assistance. Most programmes are not specific to children, and not even specific to victims trafficked for sexual purposes. The same applies to shelters; the provision of shelter accommodation to victims of trafficking is usually by organisations already servicing the needs of women suffering from domestic violence. Most of the research reports complained that even if the resources were there to provide services to returned trafficked minors, there are no trained personnel to do the work. IOM plays an important role in voluntary repatriation in most of the countries, and has worked for younger as well as adult victims, but repatriation programmes are generally not specific to children. There are no repatriation programmes in Estonia, Russia or Ukraine.

Public Awareness and Media
Everywhere the media is a powerful source of information and plays a very important role in its dissemination. However, information on trafficking is frequently distorted, sensationalised and prejudiced towards victims. This general attitude makes the reintegration of young victims, and their psychological recovery, more difficult.

Multi Stakeholder Cooperation
The importance of all parties working together to combat trafficking was underlined in several country reports; especially important is the cooperation between the state agencies, international organisations and NGOs. States do not always take responsibility for the problem; most programmes are carried out by voluntary organizations. A problem for NGOs is the project based nature of the work, and their dependence on funding, which leads to problems with sustainability and continuity.
A state programme, such as a National Plan of Action, that sets out the responsibilities and obligations of the different agencies dealing with trafficking is very important in combating the problem. Example of collaborative working can be found in Albania, Belarus, Moldova, and Romania where government departments, international agencies and NGOs have common strategies and shared programmes to combat trafficking.


Western European Updates
In the course of the current project, those countries that had participated in Trafficking I agreed to provide a report detailing events since that report was published at the end of 2001. The updates all show an increase in awareness on the issue of trafficking, including trafficking in minors, in Western European countries, and a movement towards harmonised anti-trafficking legislation. Several countries noticed that there is now less use of asylum procedures to gain entry of young people into western European countries. On the negative side, the reports also all show a continuing absence of data collection, continuing difficulties with age identification, and a lack of social services for the care of trafficked child victims.

Conclusions
The Report concludes that there is a general failure to recognize the specific rights of children to protection from sexual exploitation, both within their national systems, and as a separate category of victims of human trafficking. The international obligations of states requires them to implement special protections for children to prevent them from becoming victims and to rescue and protect them after they have fallen into the hands of traffickers. The numbers of young people affected seem not to be so high as to make the problem unmanageable, and it therefore should be given priority in national anti-trafficking measures and in measures for the return, recovery and reintegration of child victims.

Recommendations
1. Child protection mechanisms must be made effective at national level in every country.
2. Anti-trafficking programmes must have specific measures to combat trafficking of minors.
3. Children must be given priority in national judicial systems. Legislation to combat trafficking must match the standards of the agreed international instruments. Where children are concerned, even discretionary provisions of the instruments should be fully implemented.
4. In-country trafficking must be criminalized.
5. The purchase of sexual services from minors should be made a criminal offence in every country of the region.
6. The special vulnerability of children in the investigation of trafficking offences must be recognized by law enforcement agencies.
7. Witness Protection for Child Victims must be institutionalized in the countries of the region.
8. A Counter-Trafficking Steering Group, with specialised sub-groups, including NGOs, along the lines of the UK model should be considered for every country.
9. Migration Policies should be examined in every country and reviewed to cover the current needs of young people for safe migration.
10. All countries should research the extent and nature of child sexual exploitation in their domestic context.
11. Common data registration systems specific to trafficked, exploited and missing minors should be developed for all the European countries.
12. National services available to child victims should be mapped, and the information made available to all the services that come in contact with trafficked minors.
13. Education for Prevention programmes should become part of the curricula in primary and secondary schools in all the Eastern European project countries. Social assistance and support must be available to children at risk.
14. Collaboration between child-centred NGOs and the NGOs working for women should increase. A coalition against trafficking of minors between East and West Europe (like the coalition against child soldiers) could be a body through which this networking could function
15. NGOs should use the Offices of the UN Special Rapporteur and the OSCE Representative as common reference points to which to supply information about child trafficking.
16. Awareness-raising must continue in the region, and be further developed to target a wide range of risk groups and professionals.
17. Information and training should be prioritized by each country for those involved in combating trafficking.
18. Efforts must be made to sensitise the media to the protection of children, based on existing guidelines.
19. The expansion of Hotlines/Helplines to provide information services to trafficked victims should be encouraged.
20. Programmes for shelter, rehabilitation and reintegration of children should be expanded and developed, with a multidisciplinary approach and a legal component.
21. Repatriation programmes should be developed that are targeted specifically at children.
22. Core funding to the not-for-profit sector providing protection for children should be recognized as necessary to enable NGOs to care on a long-term basis for trafficked and exploited minor victims.


The report Joint East West Trafficking Research on Trafficking in Children for Sexual Purposes in Europe: The Sending Countries is published in cooperation with ECPAT Netherlands and Defence for Children International The Netherlands. The report is co-financed by the STOP II programme of the European Commision ,Brussels and the OAK Foundation, Geneva.
To order this publication or for more information on the project, you can contact mr. Theo Noten or ms. Anke van den Borne.

ECPAT Netherlands, P.O. Box 75297, 1070 AG Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tel: + 31 20 4203771, fax: + 31 20 4203832, Email: info@ecpat.nl, Website: www.ecpat.nl

LACK OF PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND TRAFFICKING IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE - 22/03/2004
"Prostituted and trafficked children in Central and Eastern Europe generally are seen as engaging in anti-social behaviour and not as victims of exploitation. Minor victims are very harshly treated by traffickers and exploiters, but there is no specific protection within the legislation and in the law enforcement system and there are no specific provisions for care, recovery and repatriation. Therefore minors should be given priority in anti-trafficking measures." These are the main conclusions of the ECPAT Europe Law enforcement Group, coordinated by ECPAT Netherlands, in its report ‘Joint East West Research on Trafficking in Minors for Sexual Purposes in Europe: the Sending Countries’. This European research is presented at the meeting of the Stability Pact Taskforce on Trafficking in Human Beings on 24 March 2004 in Belgrade.

The Joint East West Research is a follow up of the report on receiving countries in Western Europe published in 2001. The focus in the report is on eight Central and Eastern European countries: Albania, Belarus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Moldova, Romania, Russia and Ukraine. Updates were provided on the situation in eight western European countries: Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway and United Kingdom.
No country could provide reliable statistics on the number of children trafficked into, within, or out of their country. Numbers mentioned in the different country reports vary from a few to several hundreds. The research shows an increase in awareness on trafficking in minors and a movement towards harmonised anti-trafficking legislation in Western Europe. Most countries in Central and Eastern Europe have adopted anti-trafficking provisions in their legislation. But protection for children is weak and there is a serious lack of specific recovery programmes.
The most important recommendations from ECPAT to improve the situation of minors are:
• Protect children in the countries of origin. Give children priority in legislation and law enforcement; criminalize the purchase of sexual services from minors and in-country trafficking; make criminal investigations of trafficking and sexual exploitation child focused.
• All countries should research the extent and nature of child sexual exploitation in their domestic context. Common data registration systems should be developed in Europe specific to trafficked, exploited and missing minors.
• Awareness-raising, education and training must target a range of risk groups as well as professionals in combating trafficking. Media must be sensitised to the protection of children.
• Encourage the expansion of Help Lines as well as specific programmes for shelter, recovery and repatriation. A child rights based approach should be the basis for such programmes.
• Promote and enhance anti-trafficking multi stakeholder cooperation of government, international agencies and NGOs.

The research was co-funded by the European Commission’s STOP II program and the Oak foundation.


For more information: contact mr.Theo Noten project coordinator or ms. Anke van den Borne, research coordinator: ECPAT the Netherlands tel: + 31 20 4203771 Email: info@ecpat.nl.

Kinderhandelcampagne UNICEF - 19/11/2003
Jaarlijks worden naar schatting 1,2 miljoen kinderen het slachtoffer van mensenhandel. Het fenomeen komt voor in alle continenten en blijft onbekend, omdat het illegaal gebeurt. Nochtans wordt er strijd gevoerd en worden oplossingen naar voor geschoven.
UNICEF is actief zowel in de landen van oorsprong als eindbestemming.
UNICEF België bindt de strijd aan met deze ernstige schending van de rechten van het kind en lanceert een nationale petitie-actie : www.unicef.be/kinderhandel

ECPAT Nieuws Mei 2003 - 19/05/2003
ECPAT NEWS Belgique/België
Mai/Mei 2003


"Wanneer zullen wij eindelijk kunnen leven in een wereld waarin mensen delen met mekaar, waarin echte liefde bestaat en samenlevingen en individuen beschermd worden tegen elke vorm van misbruik, discriminatie en uitbuiting ?
Een wereld bevrijd van seksuele commerciële uitbuiting van kinderen"

(Eindoproep van de kinderen en de jongeren in Yokohama)


Beste Vrienden,


De gedrukte versie van onze nieuwsbrief zal vervangen worden door de elektronische versie en beschikbaar zijn op onze website : www.ecpat.be. U kan daar de activiteiten van ECPAT België op de voet volgen.


ECPAT België – Huidevettersstraat 165, 1000 Brussel
tel. 02/213.04.80 et 81 – Fax 02/502.81.01
Email : ecpat@broederlijkdelen.be
www.ecpat.be
Jongeren participatie

Het tweede jaar van toerisme school ISALT Brussel op de bres tegen sekstoerisme


« Dit project gaf ons, zes jongeren uit het tweede jaar van ISALT, de kans om het heft in handen te nemen en eigenhandig een concreet project op touw te zetten. Iets zinnig doen voor een thema dat ons nauw aan het hart ligt, dat wilden wij. Wij kozen om scheep te gaan met ECPAT ( End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes) en samen een sensibilisatie campagne op te zetten rond sekstoerisme.


Tijdens de loop van dit schooljaar leerden wij de problematiek van sekstoerisme beter kennen en dit was dan weer de aanleiding om een brede waaier van activiteiten op te zetten. De ene nog boeiender dan de andere: de voorstelling van ons project bij de eerstejaars van het Isalt, een rondgang met ons project in Nederlandstalige toerismescholen, perscontacten en een stand op de reisbeurs Belasia


Wij zijn ook van plan dit jaar om toerisme scholen uit andere landen te contacteren. Een project van iets langere adem, dus hopen wij dat de leerlingen uit volgende jaren dit werk verder afmaken. Er is nog werk aan de winkel, Komaan de beuk erin. Wij rekenen op jullie want het is belangrijk.


Het jaar en ons project loopt ten einde. Ik heb ik mijn medeleerlingen op de praatstoel gezet om hun ervaringen te vertellen over dit boeiende jaar

Yannick, ben je tevreden over het project?

- Ja, ik heb heel wat bijgeleerd en de sfeer was goed.

Denk je dat de eerstejaarsstudenten van het Isalt zich aangesproken voelden onze uitleg?

- Ik denk het wel want er werd heel wat nagekaard over dit thema tijdens de lessen. Ook het aantal vragen achteraf was niet min. Een aantal studenten zeiden ons dat ze van plan waren volgend jaar dit project te kiezen.

En de samenwerking met ECPAT ?

- We hebben een beeld gekregen van de manier hoe de mensen van ECPAT met weinig middelen toch heel wat proberen te realiseren. En de verantwoordelijken hebben ons echt goed geholpen.

Sonia,waarom heb jij dit project gekozen?

- De voorstelling van het project vorig jaar sprak mij enorm aan. Ik denk dat het een van de interessantste projecten was. Je heb echt het gevoel dat je werkt aan iets zinnigs. Bovendien spreekt het thema kinderen mij enorm aan . Ik heb leren omgaan met mensen. En mijn mening leren formuleren, ook in een grotere groep.

En de reisbeurs Belasia? ( stand,…)

- De sfeer was enorm, de stands , de bezoekers, onze groep. En de reisbeurs zelf was erg interessant, heel wat te zien. We hebben de mensen kunnen uitleggen wat we over sekstoerisme denken en waarom.

Sandrine, jij bent op bezoek geweest bij de Nederlandstalige toerisme scholen in Kortrijk en Mechelen . Wat vond je van de studenten?

- Het contact liep vlot. Hoewel ze niet alle dagen over sekstoerisme praten wisten ze wel dat het bestaat. We hebben het taboe doorbroken en natuurlijk wisten over wat we praten. We hadden heel wat materiaal om onze uitleg te staven. De studenten stelden veel vragen Velen wilden doorgaan op de problematiek. Ze waren geroerd en zelfs geschokt door ons verhaal.


Dus je ziet het. Dit project reikte verder dan de eigen schoolmuren. Daarom hoop ik dat deze enkele lijnen je zin doet krijgen om deel te nemen aan de strijd tegen sekstoerisme. En waarom niet je inschrijven in het project, volgend werkjaar? ” Voor de groep, Simon Lepers, tweedejaars Isalt


Een aanrader! De avonturen van een Russisch meisje, slachtoffer van mensenhandel. Gebaseerd op een waar verhaal, heeft de producer van deze film op een respectvolle wijze een inkijk geleverd op de harde realiteit van een jong meisje, verstrikt in een crimineel netwerk. Gelokt door haar ‘vriend’ , komt zij in Zweden in het prostitutie milieu terecht.


Te zien vanaf 14/05/2003

Brussel : Arenberg Galeries
Antwerpen : Cartoon’s
Gent : Sphinx
Leuven : Studio

EEN AANRADER


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