Committee on the Rights of the Child

Fifty- ninth session

16 January–3 February 2012

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography

List of issues concerning additional and updated information related to the initial report of Togo (CRC/C/OPSC/TGO/1)

The State party is requested to submit additional, updated information in writing, and not exceeding 15 pages, if possible before 1 October 2011.

The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights contained in the Optional Protocol during the dialogue with the State p arty.

1.Please provide statistical data (disaggregated by sex, age and ethnic group) for 2008, 2009 and 2010 on:

(a)Reports of sales of children (disaggregated by sale for purposes of sexual exploitation, transfer of organs for profit, or forced labour), child prostitution, child pornography and child sex tourism together with information on the action taken in response to these reports, in particular prosecutions brought and penalties imposed;

(b)The numbers of children trafficked into, out of and within the territory of the State party for the purposes of sale, prostitution or pornography as defined in article 3, paragraph 1, of the Optional Protocol, together with information on the action taken in response, in particular prosecutions brought and penalties imposed;

(c)The numbers of child victims provided with recovery assistance or compensation in accordance with article 9, paragraphs 3 and 4, of the Optional Protocol.

2.What is the legal definition of the sale of children in the State party? Please indicate if the Criminal Code fully covers all the activities and all the actions described in article 3 (a) of the Optional Protocol, namely the act of offering, delivering or accepting a child, by whatever means, for the purpose of: (a) sexual exploitation of the child; (b) transfer of organs of the child for profit; (c) the engagement of the child in forced labour; and improperly inducing consent, as an intermediary, for the adoption of a child in violation of the applicable international legal instruments on adoption.

3.Please indicate what steps have been taken to prevent and combat early or forced marriages, and to put an end to the practice of “sororat cadette”, by which a widower takes as his wife the younger sister of his deceased wife, even if she is a child.

4.Please clarify the responsibilities and specify which government department or body, within the various ministries and bodies cited in paragraphs 28 and 29 of the report, is responsible for coordinating activities to give effect to the Optional Protocol.

5.Please indicate why the global strategy to combat child trafficking, prostitution and pornography, approved in 2008 by all concerned with the protection of children in Togo, has not yet been adopted.

6.Please provide information on the progress made in creating a database of violations of children’s rights covered under the Optional Protocol. Please provide specific information on the data collected in the research mentioned in paragraph 174 of the report.

7.Please provide information on recent activities and initiatives to systematically raise public awareness of offences under the Optional Protocol and of the State party’s obligations to prevent, prohibit and combat such offences. Please indicate what impact these activities have had.

8.Please indicate whether special legal, psychological and other training is given to professionals who are likely to come into contact with child victims of the offences covered under the Optional Protocol, such as judges, public prosecutors, the police, social workers and health-care providers, members of the media and other professionals.

9.Please provide information on the financial, technical and human resources specifically allocated by the State party to raising awareness and disseminating information, crime prevention and punishment, and victim assistance under the Optional Protocol.

10.Please provide information on measures taken by the State party to protect the rights and interests of child victims of crimes under the Optional Protocol at all stages of criminal proceedings. Are steps being taken, for example, to protect their privacy, particularly from the media, to ensure their safety and to provide them with proper assistance? Have government shelters been opened in various parts of the country to accommodate the child victims of crimes covered by the Optional Protocol?

11.Please comment on the report that a significant proportion of prostitutes are children, and indicate what action has been taken to prevent and combat child prostitution. In particular, please provide detailed information on the actions taken to identify and close brothels and places such as the “Devissime” market in which girls are forced into prostitution, and to bring pimps to justice.

12.Please indicate the justification for charging the non-governmental organizations which support child victims of sexual exploitation very high medical assessment fees and fees for taking children into care.

13.Please provide additional information on measures taken to strengthen reciprocal international assistance in investigations, criminal proceedings and extradition proceedings relating to offences under the Optional Protocol.

14.Please provide up-to-date information on bilateral and multilateral agreements concluded by the State party whose purpose is to prevent, identify, prosecute and punish those responsible for actions involving the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and to investigate such actions. Has the State party entered into, or is it planning to enter into, such agreements?