violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

2International criminal,humanitarian, refugeeand labour lawThe protection provided to children throughhuman rights provisions is relevant at alltimes. At the same time, the Rome Statute ofthe International Criminal Court, the fourGeneva Conventions of 1949 and their twoAdditional Protocols of 1977 provide keylegal protection to children in internal andinternational conflict. Children who meet thedefinition of a refugee within the 1951 UnitedNations Convention relating to the Status ofRefugees and its 1967 Protocol have access toa wide array of rights and protections, includinglegal aid and material protection, as well asthe right not to be returned to the place wherethey face persecution. While not legally binding,the 1998 Guiding Principles on InternalDisplacement consisting of 30 principles, provideprotection and assistance for individualsthroughout displacement, and establish guidelinesfor safe return, resettlement and reintegration.The Guiding Principles pay particularattention to the rights and needs of children,in particular girls, prohibiting sale of childreninto marriage, sexual exploitation, forcedlabour and the recruitment or use of childrenduring hostilities.Trafficking generally, including the traffickingof children, is addressed in the first consolidatedinstrument on this issue, the Conventionfor the Suppression of the Traffic in Personsand of the Exploitation of Others which wasadopted by the General Assembly in 1950.Provisions directed at the elimination of traffickingare also included in the Conventionson the Elimination of Discrimination againstWomen and Rights of the Child, and the InternationalLabour Organization’s Worst Formsof Child Labour Convention (1999), No. 182.In 2000, the General Assembly adopted theUnited Nations Convention against TransnationalOrganized Crime and its supplementaryProtocols: the Protocol to Prevent, Suppressand Punish Trafficking in Persons, EspeciallyWomen and Children, and the Protocol againstthe Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea andAir. The Convention provides for cooperationin investigation, mutual legal assistance,and extradition where trafficking is concerned.The Trafficking Protocol, now accepted by 105States from all regions of the world (as of the6th of September 2006), includes the first internationallegal definition of trafficking, makesprovision for assistance and protection of victimsof trafficking, and requires States partiesto criminalise this activity, as well as to provideassistance and protection for victims. It alsosets out preventive measures in this context.Specific rights and protection for childrenin the context of work are provided by thenumerous conventions elaborated by the InternationalLabour Organization, with particularprotection being provided by the MinimumAge Convention (1973), No. 183 and the WorstForms of Child Labour (1999), No. 182.37Violence against children and international human rights law and standards