Activities to Address CSEC in General

New Zealand is actively involved in the protection of children both nationally and internationally and has a consistent record of being a supporter of children's rights.

New Zealand has worked with other Asia Pacific States to assist development of their own capacity to address the problem of sexual exploitation of children through New Zealand Official Development Assistance allocations. For example the government organised a visit by Thai officials and prosecutors in 1997 to study our child evidence laws and procedures.

New Zealand recently ratified the ILO Convention 182 Concerning the Worst Forms of Child Labour. This Convention is aimed at the immediate abolition of the worst forms of child labour, including slavery, the sale and trafficking of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Under Article 6 of the Convention, New Zealand is bound to "design and implement programmes of action to eliminate as a priority the worst forms of child labour". New Zealand government must ensure that it applies a consistent and cohesive approach as it implements strategies and programmes in accordance with both the Stockholm Declaration and the ILO Convention 182 Concerning the Worst Forms of Child Labour.

New Zealand signed up to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC) in 1993. It sets out agreed rights to protections, entitlements and freedoms for children and covers everyone under 18 years of age. Article 34 and 35 relate specifically to the Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action as they require States to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, including: inducing or coercing of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity; using children in prostitution; and exploiting children in pornographic performances and materials. States must also prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traffic in children for any purpose or in any form.

In response to international concern about the increasing traffic of children for exploitation and the widespread practice of child sex tourism, an Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography was developed which extends the measures that State Parties must undertake as signatories to UNCROC. The Optional Protocol aims to enhance the international legal protection for children from sexual and other forms of exploitation by requiring State Parties to prohibit various activities associated with the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, whether they are committed domestically or transnationally. New Zealand has signed the Optional Protocol and is currently undertaking work to ensure that both New Zealand domestic law and policy fully comply with the Optional Protocol as part of the ratification process.

In addition to the legislation prohibiting CSEC, there are laws aimed at preventing the abuse of children, such as those enabling workers to be vetted prior to being employed in positions of trust with children. The education sector is the biggest employer of people coming into contact with children. The Education Amendment Bill, which is expected to come into force later this year, will require that all employees of schools and early childhood education services are vetted. Some organisations employing people to work with children not covered by the Bill may be unaware of the vetting system or how to access it. After the enactment of the Education Amendment Bill, the Police will monitor the vetting process with a view to identifying issues that may enhance it, which may include increasing or targeting their publicity about the vetting system.

The New Zealand government has also recognised the need to ensure that international students are safe and properly cared for when they come to study in New Zealand. In 1996 the Ministry of Education developed a voluntary code of conduct for providers of education in New Zealand. The Code set out the obligations and responsibilities of education providers to their international students. The Ministry of Education is currently revising the voluntary Code, and as of 1 September 2001, it will become a mandatory Code of Practice for Providers who enrol International Students. Under the mandatory Code all international students under 18 will be required to live in boarding houses or homestay accommodation that have been vetted. The Code will also see the establishment of the International Education Appeal Authority and the Review Panel for dealing with complaints from students about breaches of the Code, with power to impose sanctions on signatories who breach the Code.

Recognition has recently been given to the need to effectively manage the risk that sex offenders pose to the community when they are released from prison or receive a community based sentence. Government officials are investigating measures to improve the management of convicted sex offenders released into the community. The measures include a formalised disclosure regime between government agencies that have contact with released sex offenders to increase the access of agencies to relevant information, a systematic risk assessment of sex offenders, and multi-agency monitoring and risk management for sex offenders within their post-release supervision period to reduce the risk of re-offending.

When children do fall victim to abuse, special protections are needed to ensure the justice system does not revictimise the child. Additional measures to improve the rights of all victims are currently before Parliament. The Victims' Rights Bill, and a Supplementary Order Paper to the Bill aim to improve the treatment of victims of crime, by making many of victims' existing rights mandatory obligations on agencies, and introducing a number of new rights. The legislation will provide victims with the opportunity to be consulted on name suppression applications and will allow former child victims to apply to have name suppression of the offender lifted once they turn 16 years of age.

A Child Witnesses programme is currently being developed to improve the preparation of child witnesses for court. The programme was piloted in July 2001, and will be evaluated and progressively implemented nation-wide. The programme will be delivered through existing Victim Advisers and will include explanation of the purpose of the criminal justice system; explanation of the various court hearings; roles of people within the Courtroom; and guidance for parents on supporting children without contaminating evidence.

The Agenda for Action requires that countries promote the participation of children, so they are able to express their views. The Office of the Commissioner for Children is currently developing a community based child advocacy training programme to advance children's advocacy. The Office is working on modules for a set of three training packages: Training for Individual Advocacy; Natural Justice Training for the Education Sector; and Participation Training for other Organisations Working with Children. Each of the three training packages focus on developing child advocacy skills, mechanisms for increasing children's involvement in decision-making processes and structures and processes that enable children's voices to be heard.

The government, led by Ministry of Social Development, is currently developing an Agenda for Children to provide a framework to inform policy development and research relating to children across government over the next five years. Public consultation is being undertaken and contributions have been actively sought from children and young people. The government, led by Ministry of Youth Affairs, is also progressing a Youth Development Strategy Aotearoa, which is being developed in consultation with young people, as well as key youth-focused organisations.

In addition to these specific activities, key government agencies have agreed to focus awareness on the problem of CSEC through effective information sharing. While protocols are in place between Child, Youth and Family, the Police and Health relating to sexual abuse, co-ordination of activity relating to the commercial sexual exploitation of children as a whole still needs to be addressed. Child, Youth and Family is seeking to work with others, including the Police, to address specific recognised problem areas where commercial sexual exploitation is occurring. Government agencies have also agreed to improve public awareness by taking every appropriate opportunity to specifically refer to the problem of CSEC when providing information and press releases on child abuse in general.