Malta endorses convention on child protection

Tag: malta

Ambassador Joseph Licari, Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, yesterday morning signed the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse on behalf of the Government of Malta.

Ms Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, the Council of Europe’s Deputy Secretary General, attended the signing ceremony following which, Ambassador Licari deposited the instrument of ratification with the Treaty Office of the Council of Europe.

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The Convention is the first international legal instrument to establish the various forms of sexual abuse of children as criminal offences. It outlines preventive measures and establishes programmes to support victims and encourage people to report suspected sexual exploitation and abuse.

Each party to the convention binds itself to “take the necessary legislative or other measures to encourage and support the setting up of information services, such as telephone or Internet help-lines, to provide advice to callers, even confidentially or with due regard for their anonymity.” With the aim of combating child sex tourism, the convention provides that individuals can be prosecuted even for offences committed abroad.

Malta is the 8th member state to ratify the Convention which came into force on 1 July 2010 within the context of the Council of Europe’s three-year programme “Building a Europe for and with children”.

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.as...mid=111760