Rights of the Child Information and Communications Technologies and Child Sexual Exploitation

A/HRC/RES/31/7No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2016.

What subjects does this mandate have?

17 topics

Accountability Child Abuse Child Pornography Child Prostitution Communication Technology Crime Prevention Criminal Justice Criminal Law Digital Literacy Human Rights Policy Information Technology Internet Law Enforcement Right to Privacy Rights of the Child Sex Crimes Sustainable Development

What does this mandate say?

23 operative paragraphs

Takes note with appreciation of the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights entitled “Information and communications technology and child sexual exploitation”;

Urges States to take all steps necessary to ensure full, equal, inclusive and safe access, without discrimination of any kind, to information and communications technologies by all children and safeguard the protection of children online and offline through an integrated and multifaceted approach based on the rights and well-being of children;

Condemns in the strongest possible terms all forms of violence against children, including sexual and gender-based violence, including when perpetrated through or resulting from the criminal misuse of information and communications technologies made available on the Internet, and sexual exploitation of children online;

Calls upon States to ensure the legal protection of children from sexual abuse and exploitation online and to define legally, in accordance with international human rights law and obligations, and criminalize all relevant conduct related to the sexual exploitation of children online and offline, including but not limited to its newest forms, such as the solicitation of children for sexual purposes known as “child grooming”, sexual extortion, and streaming of child abuse, and possession or distribution of, access to, or exchange or production of or payment for child sexual abuse material and the viewing, conducting or facilitation of children’s participation in live sexual abuses transmitted through information and communications technologies, while ensuring that their legislation takes into account possible future developments in the modi operandi for online child sexual abuse and exploitation;

Also calls upon States to ensure that the whole chain of those involved or attempting to commit such criminal activities are held accountable and brought to justice in order to fight impunity, taking into account the multi-jurisdictional and transnational nature of child sexual exploitation and abuse online through information and communications technologies;

Further calls upon States to ensure that domestic legislation on data protection and privacy is in accordance with international human rights law and allows law enforcement, social welfare and judicial authorities to conduct effective and appropriate investigations and prosecutions to combat violations of the child victim’s right to privacy, according to which no one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence, and the right to the protection of the law against such interference, as set out in article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in respect of child sexual exploitation online and offline, and to raise awareness of the importance of activities and compliance with the law by private actors, notably those in the Internet industry, to strengthen those efforts;

Calls upon States, through increased cooperation among relevant State agencies, to remove obstacles to effective investigations of and prosecutions for child sexual abuse and exploitation online and offline by facilitating access by the competent law enforcement and judicial authorities to evidence of crimes committed across borders, including witness testimony and electronic information stored by Internet service providers and online platforms, and stresses that private actors should comply with the law enforcement measures taken in that respect;

Also calls upon States to ensure a clear and predictable legal and regulatory environment, which requires information and communications technology and other relevant industries to respect the rights of the child and which strengthens regulatory agencies’ responsibility for the development of standards for the protection of the rights of the child;

Further calls upon States to establish fast and effective procedures for the removal or blocking of child sexual abuse or pornographic materials involving children, including by adopting legislation and promoting self-regulatory frameworks for businesses, in accordance with national and international human rights laws and obligations, to aid the detection of crimes online, to report evidence thereof and to prevent the dissemination of child abuse material involving children, “child grooming” and other forms of child sexual abuse and exploitation online;

Urges States to strengthen international and regional cooperation among their law enforcement services, including through, inter alia, appropriate mutual legal assistance frameworks in criminal matters, and with the International Criminal Police Organization, and to ensure effective implementation of relevant international standards and the enforcement of the applicable legal framework on issues related to child sexual abuse and exploitation online and offline;

Calls upon States to promote international financial and technical cooperation in this area, to exchange best practices, investigation procedures, training and capacity-building in order to prevent, eradicate and mitigate child sexual abuse and exploitation online, and to promote the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of victims;

Urges States to establish well-trained and well-resourced dedicated law enforcement investigative units in charge of investigating, pursuing and combating sexual and gender-based violence against children committed using information and communications technologies and child sexual exploitation online, or to strengthen such units if they already exist, and to provide them with adequate financial support and capacity-building and specialist training opportunities;

Calls upon States to develop a comprehensive, safe, inclusive and empowering approach to children’s online protection that is in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ensuring that the principles enshrined in the Convention, including non-discrimination, the best interests of the child, survival and development and children’s right to express their views in matters affecting them, are meaningfully implemented;

Urges States to provide for effective remedies, recovery and reintegration, including through integrated child- and gender-sensitive and child-friendly complaints and reporting mechanisms, services and programmes for child victims of sexual abuse and exploitation, to mitigate the harm caused to them, and to prevent secondary victimization while ensuring the right of the child to be heard, including in any administrative or judicial proceeding affecting him or her, in a manner consistent with the procedural rules of national law;

Encourages States to develop and strengthen the collection, analysis and dissemination of data, as appropriate, on online and offline sexual abuse and exploitation, disaggregated by, inter alia, age, sex, family income and other relevant factors, as an integral part of States’ efforts to prevent and respond to this abuse;

Calls upon States to adopt and enable all necessary administrative and legal measures to guarantee the rights to privacy, provide protection, safety and adequate information for all children involved in ongoing criminal investigations and or judicial proceedings before, during and after such investigations and proceedings;

Also calls upon States to adopt and implement sustained and inclusive child-empowering non-formal and formal education programmes, providing children, parents, caregivers, teachers and other professionals working with children with basic skills relating to media and information literacy, notably information and training on the online environment, its safe use, benefits and risks, in order to increase their awareness and capacity to adopt online coping strategies, and to support children’s resilience, including by involving children, former victims, relevant non-governmental organizations and relevant industries;

Further calls upon States to develop initiatives and programmes using information and communications technologies, including mobile telephone and social media, to inform children of their rights, the risks of sexual abuse and exploitation and coping strategies, including by implementing timely alert mechanisms, while taking into account the challenges faced by children with disabilities in that regard;

Urges States to establish widely available, easily accessible, child- and gender-sensitive and confidential counselling, reporting and complaints mechanisms for children, such as child helplines, to report inappropriate interactions and violence encountered online and to protect children;

Encourages the participation of children in the development and implementation of policies, programmes and other initiatives aimed at promoting the rights of the child, in particular those preventing and combating child sexual abuse and exploitation online and offline;

Encourages States to build and strengthen multi-stakeholder platforms with the participation of Governments, civil society and representatives of industry, in particular with the information and communications technology sector, the tourism and travel industry and the banking and finance sectors, with a view to promoting private partners’ participation in the elaboration and implementation of policies to empower and inform children, prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation online and offline, which would include preventive safety and quality alert measures;

Decides to continue its consideration of the question of the rights of the child in accordance with its programme of work and its resolutions 7/29 of 28 March 2008 and 19/37 of 23 March 2012, and to focus its next annual day of discussion on the theme “Protection of the rights of the child in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”;

Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a report on that theme, in close cooperation with all relevant stakeholders, including States, the United Nations Children’s Fund, other relevant United Nations bodies and agencies, relevant special procedure mandate holders, regional organizations and human rights bodies, national human rights institutions and civil society, including children themselves, and to present it to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-fourth session with a view to providing information for the annual day of discussion on the rights of the child.

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