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By Kate Fitch with Kathleen Spencer Chapman and Zoë Hilton (November 2007)
Protecting children from sexual abuse in Europe: safer recruitment of workers in a border-free Europe (PDF, 712KB)
presents the arguments for closer cooperation between European Union countries to keep children safe from known sex offenders across Europe.
Article 34 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was ratified by all EU countries, is unequivocal in calling for the absolute protection of children from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse:
"States parties undertake to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. For these purposes, States parties shall in particular take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures."
To date, the EU has agreed or discussed a number of initiatives aimed at tackling child sexual abuse and exploitation. While these form a useful basis for further cooperation, they do not ensure that unsuitable people are unable to gain employment with children when they move across borders. This is of particular concern given the significant numbers of people who now take advantage of their right to live and work anywhere in the EU.
Crucially, there are no systems or mechanisms in place between EU countries to exchange criminal records information for use in pre-employment vetting, and even when employers can access information about a prospective employee from another EU country, there are no guarantees it is reliable and complete. The recording and retention of criminal record information varies widely across the EU, and the legal definition of one and the same crime may be different in each of the 27 countries.
This report presents the arguments for closer cooperation between European Union countries to keep children safe from known sex offenders across the whole of Europe, and makes recommendations on how to achieve it. Member states must cooperate at a level that ensures convicted sex offenders cannot get a job that potentially brings them into contact with children simply by moving to another EU country.
An executive summary of our report is available in the following languages:
Protecting children from sexual abuse in Europe: safer recruitment of workers in a border-free Europe (Childright, 242 (Dec 2007/Jan 2008): 17-19) (PDF, 96KB)
An article written by Kate Fitch with Kathleen Spencer Chapman and Zoë Hilton for the Dec 2007/Jan 2008 edition of childRIGHT .
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