United Nations Radio

The United Nations-backed forum to combat the sexual exploitation of children ended Friday in Rio de Janeiro with a call for a strategy comprising laws, policies, regulations and services across all social sectors, as well as a shift in social attitudes and practices to protect children.

UN Radio's Carlos Araujo was at the conference in Rio and filed this report on the summit's final declaration and action plan:

CARLOS: "The Rio Action Plan was described by many participants as a landmark in the fight against sexual exploitation of children worldwide. For the first time ever, the document includes new strategies to counter new forms of sexual exploitation, such as internet pornography, child trafficking and migration.

The final declaration of the Rio Congress underlines the need for effective prevention, by changing social attitudes and practice that condone sexual exploitation of children, such as child marriage.

On the legal side, the Rio Action Plan urges governments to adopt laws to protect children under their jurisdiction, and avoid the criminalization of children for crimes they have committed as a result of their sexual exploitation.

The document also details a series of recommendations in the areas of sexual tourism, child in prostitution and trafficking of children for sexual abuse.

For the first time ever, the main victims of this crime, the children themselves, were part of the solution, with their views reflected in the final document.

The Rio de Janeiro Congress wants to mark the beginning of tolerance zero towards the sexual exploitation against children. Their message was loud and clear: time has come to end the legal impunity of the perpetrators of such crimes."

DIANE: That report by UN Radio's Carlos Araujo in Rio de Janeiro

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