UN officials welcome Pakistan's ratification of treaty on sexual exploitation of children

[News_Editor]

UN officials welcome Pakistan's ratification of treaty on sexual exploitation of children

2011-06-10 06:06:40 GMT+7 (ICT)

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- Two senior United Nations officials on Thursday welcomed Pakistan's ratification of an international treaty that prohibits the sale of children and bans child prostitution and child pornography.

Pakistan has now become the 144th country to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which makes it mandatory for States to end the sexual exploitation and abuse of children. It also protects children from being sold for non-sexual purposes, such as other forms of forced labour, illegal adoption and organ donation.

"The ratification of this Optional Protocol marks a significant milestone in the efforts to protect children from sexual exploitation in Pakistan. This is also part of a global effort to bring the international community together in the fight against the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography," Dan Rohrmann, the Representative of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Pakistan, said.

Welcoming the ratification, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, Marta Santos Pais, said: "I salute this solemn commitment by Pakistan to criminalize these serious child rights violations, to protect child victims and witnesses and to fight impunity within and across borders."

The protocol requires governments to consider the best interests of the child in any interactions with the criminal justice system. It also obliges governments to also provide the necessary medical, psychological, logistical and financial support to aid the child victim's social reintegration.

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