Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly: Debate on violence against children

The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly will hold the first part of its 2007 regular session from 22-26 January 2007. On the 23rd it will hold a debate, which will involve children, on violence against children.

Princess Caroline of Hanover, President of the World Association of Children's Friends, and the Executive Director of UNICEF Ann Veneman will intervene, on Tuesday 23 January, in the debate on combating violence against children and other forms of child exploitation and abuse, as part of the three-year Council of Europe campaign “Building a Europe for and with children”.

In a report made public recently, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Rapporteur on child victims, Jean-Charles Gardetto, explained that maltreatment, physical violence or neglect is the cause of death of three children per week in France and two per week in Germany and the United Kingdom.

“Every day, children are bought, sold, imported, exported, used as commodities, subjected to forced marriages, prostitution. They become soldiers, servants, have their organs removed for the purpose of trafficking. They are victims of sexual abuse, everyday maltreatment, corporal punishment, trivialised domestic and parental violence as well as intimidation at school. Although there is an extensive legal apparatus at the international level intended to secure children’s rights and combat certain forms of exploitations, there is a glaring discrepancy between the rights secured to children on paper and the reality,” Mr Gardetto says in his report.

During the 23rd January debate, the Assembly is due to adopt a series of proposals for more effective prevention and punishment of all forms of violence and abuse involving children during a debate on 23 January 2007.

On this occasion, Council of Europe Deputy Secretary General Maud de Boer Buquicchio will present the 46-nation organisation’s three-year action programme (2006-2008) to promote children’s rights and protect them against violence. “The attitude of Europe towards its children should be based on care, protection and respect for their personalities, their human dignity and their rights,” she stressed.

Further information

• "Pace strikes back at violence against children"
• Doc. 11118: Child Victims: stamping out all forms of violence, exploitation and abuse
• Draft order of business
• Website of the campaign: Building a Europe for and with children
• Website of the CoE Parliamentary Assembly