Council of Europe

The Council of Europe has amongst its major focuses the eradication of all forms of violence against children. Sexual violence is one of the worst forms of violence and it also remains among the most unreported forms of violence as, in the majority of cases, children are violated by someone in their immediate family or social circle. In most European societies, this is a taboo issue compounded by a culture of silence and denial.

The Council of Europe therefore decided to launch a Campaign to stop sexual violence against children. On this occasion, the program "Building a Europe for and with Children" developed two dedicated websites:

- The site one in five, which is the reference site for the Council of Europe Campaign to Stop Sexual Violence against Children.

- The underwear rule site, which focuses specifically on how to handle this delicate subject with children from 3 to 7 years old.

The official launch of this campaign to a broad public in Italy and throughout Europe took place on 29-30 November in the form of a high level event with significant participation of authorities and experts from Council of Europe's Member States.

-Campaign outline

-Draft programme

This campaign has two major aims:

• to support the signature, ratification and implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse; and

• to raise public awareness on the extent of sexual violence within the child's circle of trust, how to empower children to break the silence and to find the ways to prevent and report sexual abuse of children.

For more information, please visit our webpage on sexual violence