Background and objectives

At the invitation of the Government of Australia, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the sale, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children, Ms. Mama Fatima Singhateh, will conduct an official visit to the country from 30 October to 10 November 2023, to assess the situation and the progress made in combating and preventing the sale and sexual exploitation of children in the light of international human rights norms and standards.

Key questions and types of input/comments sought

In preparation of the visit, the Special Rapporteur invites all interested individuals and organizations, including civil society organizations, activists, and academics, to provide input for the preparation of her visit. She would welcome information on issues related to the sale and sexual exploitation of children and violations having led to it, such as sale and trafficking; the sale of children for purposes of use in criminal activities, armed conflict, begging, forced labour, sports, adoption, marriage, transfer of organs, or other purposes; the exploitation of children for sexual purposes in travel and tourism; the possession, production and dissemination of child abuse material, which includes visual and non-visual depictions; the grooming or solicitation of a child, which involves conditioning a child to ensure he or she agrees to engage in sexual activity.

The Special Rapporteur welcomes submissions on the issues pertaining to:

• The nature, scope and magnitude of sale and sexual exploitation of children;
• The root causes and contributing factors of the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, including demand for the sale and sexual exploitation of children;
• Patterns of sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography;
• The legislative, policy and institutional framework, including the legal framework and national strategies and mechanisms of cooperation to tackle the sale and sexual exploitation of children and provide assistance to victims;
• Early support, including early identification and assistance provided to victims and survivors. Provision of comprehensive care, recovery and rehabilitation for child victims of sale and sexual exploitation;
• Access to effective remedy, redress and in particular compensation to victims and other measures aiming at the social inclusion of survivors;
• Investigation, prosecution and punishment of perpetrators and victims’ rights in criminal proceedings, including the non-criminalization principle of victims;
• Measures aimed at prevention, interventions aimed at identified vulnerable groups;
• Cooperation and partnerships, especially regarding cross border cases but also partnerships and cooperation with other actors such as the private sector in countering this phenomenon including by businesses and supply chains;
• Best practices on measures to combat the sale and sexual exploitation of children. Major challenges confronting the fight against sale and sexual exploitation of children;
• Information and communication technologies facilitating the sale and sexual exploitation of children;
• Sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism;
• Surrogacy and sale of children;
• Illegal adoptions.

How inputs will be used

All inputs will be treated confidentially by the Special Rapporteur and her team and for the sole purpose of preparing for the county visit. The Special Rapporteur greatly appreciates the effort that goes into making such contributions and looks forward to receiving submissions ahead of her country visit.

Media inquiries

The Special Rapporteur will hold a press conference to share her preliminary findings with the media at the end of her visit. Additional information on the time, venue of the press conference  and contact details will be shared prior to the visit.