Background

Pursuant to the Human Rights Council Human Rights Council Resolution 43/22, the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material has initiated the preparation of her next thematic report to the 77th session of the Human Rights Council, to be presented in October 2022. The Special Rapporteur has decided to dedicate her report to addressing the vulnerabilities of children to sale and sexual exploitation in the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular the targets 5.3, 8.7 and 16.2.

The study, as it embarks on the imperative to explore the range of manifestations of violations culminating to sale and sexual exploitation of children, will provide guidance to States parties and stakeholders for their reporting under SDGs in relation to the protection of the existing vulnerable groups of children. The information can be of benefit to the States and stakeholders to link in their national processes the revisions in their policy and programmatic intervention tools in view of leaving no child behind for the span journeying to 2030.

Within the scope of this topic, the Special Rapporteur aims to (i) identify vulnerabilities of children in relation to sale and sexual exploitation under targets 5.3, 8.7 and 16.2 of the SDG framework, and, (ii) address the challenges through the good practices in institutional, family and online settings in view of the protection of children from sale, sexual exploitation, and sexual abuse of children.

Contributions :

In order to inform the preparation of her report, the Special Rapporteur would like to seek contributions from States, National Human Rights Institutions, civil society organizations, United Nations agencies, academia, international and regional organizations, corporate entities, individuals, related to what they consider to represent the good practices in the following areas:

• Collected data, including updated data on vulnerable groups of children and information pertinent to the reporting examples of vulnerable groups of children under the framework of SDGs.
• Information how vulnerable children are at exacerbated threats to sale and sexual exploitation with links to the situation of deprivation of other SDGs. (SDG 1 poverty, SDG 4 education, SDG 5 gender equality, SDG 8 decent work and economic growth, SDG 10 reduced economic inequalities and SDG 11 sustainable cities and communities, SDG 13 climate action, SDG 16 Peace, justice and strong institutions and SDG 17 partnerships for the goals).
• The manifestations of sale and sexual exploitation in relation to targets 5.3: which provides to end all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage; 8.7: which provides to take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms; and 16.2: which provides to end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children. These manifestations may include children on the move (migrants, conflict-affected, refugees, asylum-seekers, street situations, displaced including climate and disaster related), children from marginalized groups (indigenous, minorities, rural and urban settings), and children with disabilities.
• Protection needs and contextual challenges amid the efforts to combat sale and sexual exploitation of children such as; COVID-19, climate change and disasters, safety in digital space, and increasing conflict outbreaks.
• Practical measures taken to address the vulnerabilities in institutional, family and online settings to ensure no child is left behind with respect to protection against sale and sexual exploitation. Examples of good practices are kindly requested to be as concrete as possible and preferably include a description of practical outcomes or results.

Guidelines for Submissions:

• Written submissions may be addressed to the Special Rapporteur at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights by email to OHCHR-srsaleofchildren@un.org before 14 March 2022. Early submissions are strongly encouraged.
• Respondents are requested to limit their comments to a maximum of 3,000 words.
• Additional supporting materials, such as reports, academic studies, and other background materials may be annexed to the submission.
• To help identify submissions, the Special Rapporteur kindly requests that respondents write "Contribution to UN GA report 2022” in the email subject line.
• With apologies, the mandate can only receive submissions in English, French, or Spanish.
• If not stated otherwise in the submission, the responses received will be published on the website of the Special Rapporteur.