Handbook on the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.

08 May 2009

The Handbook aims to promote understanding and effective implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The publication describes the genesis, scope and content of the Protocol, and provides examples of measures taken by States Parties to fulfil their obligations under this instrument.

This essential guide is addressed principally to public officials, UN organizations, child rights advocates and others who work with and for children, and whose duties and activities can enhance the protection of children from exploitation, whether on the national or local level. The Handbook highlights the Protocol's unique potential to decisively enhance the protection of children from exploitation and fight the impunity of perpetrators. It calls on all States to ratify the Protocol and act to implement its provisions effectively. Published by UNICEF IRC with support from the Institut International des Droits de l'Enfant in Sion, Switzerland, the Handbook benefitted from the expertise of members of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and other child rights specialists.

This handbook is part of a continuing effort by the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre (IRC) to support efforts by governments and civil society in all parts of the world to implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the two Optional Protocols to the Convention and other international instruments on the rights of children. It also forms part of IRC’s long-standing policy of supporting the work of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Download the Handbook
The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography and the jurisprudence of the Committee on the Rights of the Child , Innocenti Working Paper