Australian Government Initial Report under the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
The Optional Protocol was developed to protect children from the worst forms of commercial sexual exploitation. It further elaborates some of the important protections for children contained in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (the Convention). UNICEF estimates that one million children (mainly girls, but also a significant number of boys) enter the multi-billion dollar commercial sex trade every year. The Optional Protocol requires States parties to criminalise (domestically and transnationally) serious violations of children’s rights, including the sale of children for the purposes of sexual exploitation, organ transfer, forced labour and certain adoptions, as well as offences relating to child prostitution and pornography.
For more information, please contact Amy Lamoin at UNICEF Australia at [email protected] or phone (02) 8917 3220.