The UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre has published a paper reviewing government commitments to strengthen participation by children and adolescents to protect them from sexual abuse and exploitation. The paper includes specific recommendations from children and adolescents for encouraging young people’s involvement in their own protection and outlining the steps needed to realize the Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action.
The paper provides recommendations for further research, policy development, and programming to support advocacy and practice with and by children and adolescents. These recommendations are given to ensure that progressontinues to be made with regard to protection and participation rights after World Congress III against sexual exploitation of children and adolescents. It highlights the need for better implementation of international standards and calls upon governments, UN agencies, and NGOs to promote children’s civil rights.
The paper also includes case studies showcasing the various ways in which children and adolescents have been involved in their protection from sexual exploitation and abuse and highlighting processes that have led to concrete changes and results.
Compiled from: Clare Feinstein and Claire O’Kane, “Children’s and Adolescents’ Participation and Protection from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation,” UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre (2009).