CRC/C/OPSC/VEN/CO/1
Below is a short summary of some of the key issues from the Committee on the Rights of the Child's 67th session concluding observations for Venezuela's initial report on the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.
You can find other documents related to the Committee's 67th session (including alternative reports submitted by NGOs and the Committee's concluding observations for other States reviewed in this session) on the Committee’s session page.
Sale of children: The Committee strongly urged the State party to expeditiously investigate all cases involving children working in illegal gold mining, prosecute the alleged perpetrators of crimes covered by the Protocol, punish those convicted with penalties commensurate with the gravity of the crime, provide rehabilitation and protect and compensate the child victims.
Child sex tourism: The Committee urged the State party to adopt all necessary measure to protect children from violations of their rights arising from tourism activities, including by examining and adapting its legislative framework to ensure the legal accountability of business enterprises and their subsidiaries operating in or managed from the State party´s territory, especially in the tourism industry, regarding abuses to child and human rights and establishing monitoring mechanisms for the investigation and redress of such abuses.
Impunity: The Committee received information about the low number of cases of trafficking of children, child prostitution and child pornography identified by the State party and urged the State of Venezuela to enforce the legislation in place for the protection of children from all forms of offences covered under the Protocol, by actively identifying and investigating those cases and prosecuting and sanctioning all offenders, with a view to strengthening the deterrent effect of its existing legislation.
Liability of legal persons: The Committee recommends that the State party explicitly incorporate into law the liability of legal persons involved in any of the crimes under the Protocol.
Protecting child victims: The Committee was concerned about the deficiency or unavailability of the services required to properly protect child victims.
Recovery and reintegration of victims: The State party was urged to take all necessary measures to ensure that child victims of the offences covered under the Protocol are provided with appropriate shelter and assistance for their full social reintegration and physical and psychological recovery.