Committee on the Rights of the Child

Eighty-second session

9–27 September 2019

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

C onsideration of reports of States parties

List of issues in relation to the report submitted by Georgia under article 12 (1) of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (10,700 words maximum), if possible before 15 May 2019. The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights set out in the Optional Protocol during the dialogue with the State party.

1.Please provide information on the progress made towards the establishment of a centralized system for collection of data on all offences covered by the Optional Protocol.

2.Please provide data, disaggregated by sex, age, ethnic or national origin, socioeconomic background and urban or rural residence, covering the past three years, on the number of:

(a)Reported acts of sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, as well as other forms of exploitation, including sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism, chid marriage and online sexual exploitation, with additional information on the type of action taken as a result, including the prosecution of perpetrators and the sanctions imposed on them;

(b)Children trafficked from, to or through the State party and children trafficked within the country, for the purpose of prostitution or pornography;

(c)Child victims who have received assistance with reintegration or have received compensation.

3.Please provide information on whether the Child Rights Centre is able to effectively receive, examine and address complaints under the Optional Protocol in a child-sensitive manner. Please also inform the Committee about the number of complaints received and investigated by the Centre, and about the human, financial and technical resources allocated to the Centre.

4.Please provide information about the resources specifically allocated for the implementation of the Optional Protocol.

5.With reference to paragraphs 8 and 9 of the State party’s report (CRC/C/OPSC/GEO/1), please indicate how the National Human Rights Strategy for 2014–2020 and the corresponding action plans include lines of action focusing on the implementation of the Optional Protocol, particularly in regard to the sale and sexual exploitation of children.

6.Please provide information about the measures taken to prevent children in vulnerable situations, such as children living in institutions, including religious residential care institutions, children in street situations, children living in poverty, child victims of domestic violence, child victims of trafficking, and children using the Internet without proper supervision, from becoming victims of offences under the Optional Protocol, and about the efforts made to ensure their access to justice.

7.Please provide information on measures taken to regulate the private sector and to raise the awareness of private sector entities with regard to the prohibition and prevention of offences covered by the Optional Protocol, including child sexual exploitation in travel and tourism. Please also provide information on measures taken to disseminate to travel agents and tour operators the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism, developed by the World Tourism Organization.

8.With reference to the State party’s report, please indicate legislative measures taken to:

(a)Ensure the definition and criminalization of all forms of sale and sexual exploitation of children as separate crimes and distinct from the crime of trafficking, in line with articles 2 and 3 of the Optional Protocol;

(b)Revise the Criminal Code and other related acts to criminalize all forms of child prostitution and child pornography;

(c)Explicitly define and criminalize all forms of online sale and sexual exploitation of children.

9.Please provide information on measures taken to prevent cases where surrogacy may amount to the sale of children.

10.Please inform the Committee about the measures taken to establish extraterritorial jurisdiction over all the offences referred to in the Optional Protocol.

11.Please provide information on measures taken to develop holistic methods of identifying children who are at risk of becoming victims of child trafficking, sale, prostitution or pornography. Please explain what measures are being taken to protect the rights and interests of such children at all stages of the legal process, and provide information on the treatment afforded to victims, particularly on psychological support, rehabilitation, reintegration and compensation.