Written declaration No. 460 | Doc. 12400 | 07 October 2010

Ending sexual violence against children

Signatories: Ms Marlene RUPPRECHT, Germany, SOC ; Ms Fátima ABURTO BASELGA, Spain, SOC ; Lord Donald ANDERSON, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr John AUSTIN, United Kingdom ; Mr Lokman AYVA, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Ms Meritxell BATET, Spain, SOC ; Ms Marieluise BECK, Germany, ALDE ; Mr Luuk BLOM, Netherlands ; Mr Patrick BREEN, Ireland, EPP/CD ; Mr Joan CARTES IVERN, Andorra, SOC ; Mr Igor CHERNYSHENKO, Russian Federation, EDG ; Mr Titus CORLĂŢEAN, Romania, SOC ; Mr Telmo CORREIA, Portugal, EDG ; Mr Mustafa DZHEMILIEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Tuur ELZINGA, Netherlands, UEL ; Ms Lydie ERR, Luxembourg, SOC ; Mr Bill ETHERINGTON, United Kingdom ; Mr Joseph FALZON, Malta, EPP/CD ; Mr Gvozden Srećko FLEGO, Croatia, SOC ; Mr Paul FLYNN, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Hans FRANKEN, Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Mr György FRUNDA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Marco GATTI, San Marino, EPP/CD ; Mr Valeriu GHILETCHI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Ms Annick GIRARDIN, France, SOC ; Ms Sylvi GRAHAM, Norway, EPP/CD ; Mr John GREENWAY, United Kingdom ; Ms Claude GREFF, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Andreas GROSS, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Holger HAIBACH, Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Sabir HAJIYEV, Azerbaijan, SOC ; Mr Mike HANCOCK, United Kingdom, ALDE ; Mr Håkon HAUGLI, Norway, SOC ; Mr Norbert HAUPERT, Luxembourg, EPP/CD ; Mr Doug HENDERSON, United Kingdom ; Mr Jim HOOD, United Kingdom ; Ms Sinikka HURSKAINEN, Finland, SOC ; Mr Jean HUSS, Luxembourg, SOC ; Ms Francine JOHN-CALAME, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Birkir Jón JÓNSSON, Iceland, ALDE ; Mr Antti KAIKKONEN, Finland, ALDE ; Mr Michail KATRINIS, Greece, SOC ; Ms Virág KAUFER, Hungary, SOC ; Ms Cecilia KEAVENEY, Ireland, ALDE ; Ms Birgen KELEŞ, Turkey, SOC ; Ms Krista KIURU, Finland, SOC ; Mr Haluk KOÇ, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Juha KORKEAOJA, Finland, ALDE ; Mr Pavol KUBOVIČ, Slovak Republic, EPP/CD ; Ms Athina KYRIAKIDOU, Cyprus, SOC ; Mr Geert LAMBERT, Belgium ; Mr Bob LAXTON, United Kingdom ; Mr Jean-Paul LECOQ, France, UEL ; Mr Harald LEIBRECHT, Germany, ALDE ; Mr Göran LINDBLAD, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Mr Denis MacSHANE, United Kingdom ; Mr Dirk Van der MAELEN, Belgium, SOC ; Mr Pietro MARCENARO, Italy, SOC ; Ms Christine MARIN, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Bernard MARQUET, Monaco, ALDE ; Ms Liliane MAURY PASQUIER, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Christine McCAFFERTY, United Kingdom ; Sir Alan MEALE, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Nursuna MEMECAN, Turkey, ALDE ; Mr José MENDES BOTA, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Jean-Claude MIGNON, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Kent OLSSON, Sweden ; Mr Pieter OMTZIGT, Netherlands ; Mr Valery PARFENOV, Russian Federation, EDG ; Mr Johannes PFLUG, Germany, SOC ; Mr Geir POLLESTAD, Norway, ALDE ; Mr Ivan POPESCU, Ukraine, SOC ; Mr Christos POURGOURIDES, Cyprus, EPP/CD ; Mr John PRESCOTT, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Gabino PUCHE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Carmen QUINTANILLA, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Maria Pilar RIBA FONT, Andorra, SOC ; Mr Gonzalo ROBLES, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr François ROCHEBLOINE, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Armen RUSTAMYAN, Armenia, SOC ; Mr Fidias SARIKAS, Cyprus, SOC ; Mr Leonid SLUTSKY, Russian Federation, SOC ; Mr Marc SPAUTZ, Luxembourg, EPP/CD ; Mr Yanaki STOILOV, Bulgaria, SOC ; Mr Fiorenzo STOLFI, San Marino, SOC ; Mr Christoph STRÄSSER, Germany, SOC ; Ms Elke TINDEMANS, Belgium ; Ms Özlem TÜRKÖNE, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Ms Tuulikki UKKOLA, Finland, EPP/CD ; Mr Mustafa ÜNAL, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Mr Luca VOLONTÈ, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Konstantinos VRETTOS, Greece, SOC ; Mr Harm Evert WAALKENS, Netherlands ; Mr Johann WADEPHUL, Germany, EPP/CD ; Ms Renate WOHLWEND, Liechtenstein, EPP/CD

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

Sexual violence against children is an intolerable evil which violates the fundamental rights of the most vulnerable in a heinous way.

On 1 July 2010, the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (“Lanzarote Convention”) came into force. This Convention seeks to afford protection to the child victims of all forms of sexual violence, prevent the crime and prosecute the perpetrators.

We believe that it is our duty to protect all children from sexual violence. The fight against sexual violence against children and action to protect victims should thus be a priority in our member states. We therefore welcome the new Council of Europe Campaign to stop sexual violence against children, which will be launched in Rome on 29-30 November 2010, and whose parliamentary dimension the Parliamentary Assembly will organise.

We consider the Lanzarote Convention to be the appropriate instrument at European level to meet the urgent need to protect children. Consequently, we undertake to call upon our governments to sign the convention, if they have not already done so, to call upon our national parliaments to ratify it, and to call on the European Union to accede to it.