Access to justice and effective remedies for child victims of sexual exploitation

Objective: Child-friendly legislations that protect children from sexual exploitation are in place and being increasingly enacted around the world; however, the proper enforcement and implementation of these laws are often... [ view full abstract ]

Objective: Child-friendly legislations that protect children from sexual exploitation are in place and being increasingly enacted around the world; however, the proper enforcement and implementation of these laws are often deficient. Multiple obstacles exist at all levels of the law enforcement process and include social, political and judicial barriers. Therefore, this study explores and presents the most common flaws and challenges faced in the proper implementation of these laws, as well as ways in which these could be successfully addressed.

Method: The key in tackling a specific and enormous issue like sexual exploitation of children that occurs all over the world is to first dissect and analyze the gaps and challenges that exist, realize that provisions to address these challenges already exist, and that these otherwise adequate laws are not applied sufficiently.

Results: Different countries have different legal systems, frameworks, traditions and enforcement capacities – yet, the challenges they face have been to found to be often similar. The study identified these challenges: 1) The law cannot be enforced because the crime has not been reported; 2) The law is not enforced due to inadequate law enforcement and justice actors’ limited capacity to act on SECTT, including on processes requiring transnational collaboration; and 3) Law enforcement is not yet adequately equipped to respond to the use of new technologies and strategies in facilitating SECTT offenses.

Conclusion: In order to address these challenges, there must be increased collaboration among various stakeholders. Countries must strengthen the capacities of law enforcement authorities and justice personnel; emphasize on the importance for states to ratify the OPSC, encourage victims and friends and family to report SECTT; increase awareness through education and empowerment; increase budget and political will to support these solutions; and develop formal mechanisms aiming to enhance communication between communities and law enforcement agencies.