Print NATIONAL ACTION PLAN AGAINST COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATATION OF CHILDREN
Chapter I: Prevention
Objectives:
1. Raising the awareness of children about “sexual exploitation” and creation of mechanisms for prevention.
Activity:
1.1Specification of standards for civil education and their exact inclusion in the standards for school contents and school curricula of school subjects from the obligatory training.
Leading organization: Ministry of Education and Science /MES/
Partners: SACP, CCCABMA, MC, NGOs - “Partners – Bg” F, Care International - Bg, others
Financial source: State budget /According to the National Program “Children of Bulgaria”/, Donor’s funds
Term: 2003 – 2005
1.2 Inclusion of education on children and human rights in all types of schools, kindergartens, Homes for Raising and Education of Children Deprived from Parental Care /HRECDPC/, Educational Board School /EBS/, Social – Pedagogical Board /SPB/ and Auxiliary Schools /AS/ using the possibilities of school curricula and leisure activities.
Leading organization: MES
Partners: SACP,CCCABMAM, MC, NGOs – Care International – Bg, “Partners – Bg” F, others
Financial source: State budget /According to the National Program “Children of Bulgaria”, Donor’s funds
Term: 2003 – 2005
1.3 Development of modules in school curricula / in all types of schools, kindergartens, HRECDPC, EBS, SPB, AS/ that should include problems: sexual exploitation of children, trafficking in children, gender education and others.
Leading organization: MES
Partners: MH, MC, SACP, CCCABMA, MI /National Police Service Directorate/, International Organization for Migration /IOM/, NGOs – “Partners - Bg” F, Care International – Bg, “Animus Association” Foundation, “Neglected children” Foundation, Bulgarian Youth Red Cross /BYRC/, others
Financial source: State budget, Donor’s funds
Term: 2003 – 2005
1.4 Development and promoting of school handbooks for early prevention of sexual abuse in kindergartens and schools.
Leading organization: SACP
Partners:MES, MH, MC, School Boards, NAMRB, NGOs – “Partners - Bg” F
Financial source: State budget, Donor’s funds
Term: 2003 – 2004
1.5 Development and distribution of leaflets, brochures, posters, advertising materials, video materials.
Leading organization: SACP, NGOs
Partners: MC, MYS, MLSP, MES, AR, CCCABMA, Sofia Municipality, NAMRB, IOM , NGOs – “Partners - Bg” F, Care International – Bg, “Animus Association” Foundation, “Neglected children” Foundation, BYRC, others
Financial source: State budget, Donor’s funds
Term: 2004
1.6 Encouraging of Internet services providers to raise the awareness of children concerning sexual exploitation and the risks in the Internet and the usage of contemporary communicational technologies.
Leading organization: SACP, NGOs
Partners: MC, MYS, MES and others
Financial source: State budget, Donor’s funds
Term: 2004 - 2005
1.7 Distribution and implementation of Regulation for safe work of students in the school network and Internet, adopted with Ordinance of the Minister of Education and Science.
Leading organization: MES, MC
Partners: SACP, NGOs and others
Financial source: State budget, Donor’s funds
Term: 2003 – 2005
1.8 Development of special work measures for uncovered, potential dropouts and dropouts from school.
Leading organization: MES
Partners: SACP, MC, BYRC, NGOs
Financial source: State budget, Donor’s funds
Term: 2003 – 2004
1.9 Creating opportunities for active inclusion of children in creative activities, courses, workshops and artistic formations to community centers, municipalities and child centers for activating of the creative thinking and development of their talents.
Leading organization: MC, MES
Partners: SACP, NGOs, Community centers, Municipalities
Financial sources: State budget, Municipal budget, and Donor funds
Term: 2003-2004
1.10 Creation of opportunities for activating the children’s free time with appropriate cultural, sports and educational activities, by using the opportunities of the cultural institutes and sports bases in the country-theatres, galleries, museums, libraries, sports halls and so on.
Leading organization: MC, MYS, Municipalities
Partners: Cultural institutes and sports bases, NGOs
Financial sources: State budget, Municipal budget, and Donor funds
Term: 2003-2004
Objective:
2. Raising the qualification of professionals, working with children
2.1 Distribution of the “Code of Ethics of working with children” in all professional areas and including in job descriptions of the experts from MH, MLSP, MI.
Leading organization: SACP,
Partners: MH, MLSP, MI, MES, MC, CCCABMA, SAA and Municipalities
Financial source: State budget /According to “The children of Bulgaria” National Program/
Term: 2003-2004
2.2 Development of modules for training of professionals, working with children.
Leading organization: SACP
Partners: MLSP, MES, MH, MI, MJ, CCCABMA, NGOs
Financial source: State budget, Donor’s funds
Term: 2003 – 2004
2.3 Publishing and dissemination of a Handbook for best practice for policemen and prosecutors in conducting proceedings with children-victims of sexual exploitation, in accordance with the best EU practices.
Leading organization: MI
Partners: National Central Bureau-Interpol
Financial source: State budget, Donor’s funds
Term: 2004
2.4 Organizing of educational seminars for teachers, pedagogical advisors and school psychologists, parents and so on, including on risks from sexual exploitation, connected with Internet, forms it may achieve and how to restrict the access to it.
Leading organization: SACP, MES
Partners: Parental boards, NGOs
Financial source: State budget, Donor’s funds
Term: 2004
2.5 Organizing of educational seminars for social workers from CPD.
Leading organization: SACP
Partners: SAA, NGOs
Financial source: State budget, Donor’s funds
Term: 2004
2.6 Organizing seminars for policemen /investigators/, judges and prosecutors, including about risks of sexual exploitation, connected with Internet, forms it may achieve and how to restrict the access to it.
Leading organization: MI, MJ-MTC
Partners: SACP, NGOs
Financial source: State budget, Donor’s funds
Term: 2004
2.7 Training seminars for general practitioners, doctors in school cabinets, doctors in hospitals and medium medical staff.
Leading organization: MH
Partners: SACP, Bulgarian Medical Union /BMU/, NGOs
Financial source: State budget, Donor’s funds
Term: 2004
2.8 Training seminars for specialists from the system for prevention of antisocial behavior of children, including about risks of sexual exploitation, connected with Internet, forms it may achieve and how to restrict the access to it.
Leading organization: CCCABMA
Partners: SACP, MI, RCCABMA, Municipalities, CPD, NGOs
Financial source: State budget, Donor’s funds
Term: 2004
2.9 Organizing training seminars for journalists, working in the area.
Leading organization: SACP
Partners: Electronic Media Council /EMC/, NGOs
Financial source: Donor funds
Term: 2004
2.10 Creating a procedure and measures for informing the employers about sexual activities against children by people working with children
Leading organization: MI
Partners: SACP
Financial sources: State budget
Term: 2004
Objective:
3. Media policy of institutions for raising the public awareness on the problem of sexual exploitation of children and advertising of “zero tolerance” towards violence and exploitation of children.
Activities:
3.1 Encouraging the media for their constructive input to common consciousness for sexual exploitation of children and its influence by developing relevant behavior rules and directions for written, audiovisual and electronic media and mainly influence the respect of child privacy, identity and dignity.
Leading organization: all concerned bodies
Financial source: State budget, Donor’s funds
Term: 2003 –2004
3.2 Promoting of responsible behavior of media in picturing the children and childhood as a whole and for participation and engagements in programs for education and raising the awareness about the sexual exploitation..
Leading organization: all concerned bodies
Financial source: State budget, Donor’s funds
Term: 2003 – 2004
Chapter II:Protection
Objective:
4. Harmonization of domestic legislation with the international standards, improvement of the rights protection of children-victims.
Activities:
4.1 Review of the national legislation and its synchronization with the international agreements and requirements.
Leading organization: SACP
Partners: MFA, MJ
Financial source: State budget
Term: Permanent
4.2 Amending the Bulgarian Identification Papers Act and Notary and Notarial Activity Act for prevention of the “unaccompanied children abroad” phenomenon.
Leading organization: MJ, MI
Partners: MFA, IOM
Financial source: State budget
Term: 2003 - 2004
4.3. Guarantying the access to justice of child – victims by providing free legal help to victims of sexual exploitation by envisaging of appropriate amendments to PPC
Leading organization: MJ
Partners: SACP, CPD, NGOs
4.4 Shortening the terms for declaring missing children for national inquiry
Leading organization: MI, NCB-Interpol
Financial sources: State budget
Term: 2003
4.5 Ensuring the confidentiality of the witness testimony /records/ and respecting the right for solitude of children, victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking by amending PPC.
Leading organization: MJ
Partners: SACP, CPD
Financial sources: State budget
Term: 2004
4.6 Developing the PPC for creating video records from interrogations of children, victims or witnesses of sexual exploitation. Creating special conditions for protection of child-victim as-one interrogation, special premises, child-friendly, indirect participation of the other side and its lawyer in the interrogation and so on. The aim is to minimize the harm, caused to the victims, witnesses and their families and to raise the probability of their testimony when respecting their dignity.
Leading organization: MJ
Partners: MI, SACP
Financial sources: State budget, Donor funds
Term: 2004
4.7 Creating conditions for effective tracing, investigation and proving offences according to Chapter IX “a”, connected with Chapter II, part VIII from the PC.
Leading organization: MI
Financial sources: State budget
Term: Permanent
4.8 Raising the penalties for sexual offences against children in the Penal Code
Leading organization: MJ
Financial sources: State budget
Term: Permanent
4.9 Creating of mechanism, including about financing, for returning of children, abroad unattended.
Leading organization: MFA
Partners: MI, SACP, ASA, IOM
Financial sources: State budget
Term: Permanent
4.10 Creating an opportunity for the victims, if appropriate, to remain in the country in order to be given an opportunity to participate in the concerning procedures.
Leading organization: MJ
Partners: MFA, SAR
Financial sources: State budget
Term: 2004
4.11Clear distribution of responsibilities among the institutions, which implement measures for protection of child-victims of sexual exploitation: CPD to SPD, SACP, CCCABMA, RCCABMA and police bodies.
Leading organization: SACP
Partners: MI /CPR/, ASA /SPD/, RCCABMA
Financial sources: State budget
Term: Permanent
Objective:
5. Developmentofsystemof measures, concerningperpetrators
Activities:
5.1 Review and analysis of existing legal regulations, containing measures to combat the perpetrators. Proposals for amendments.
Leading organization: SACP
Partners: MJ, NGOs
Financial source: State budget, Donor funds
Term: Permanent
5.2 Development of system of measures for combating /punitive, administrative/, based on public danger of the concrete actions, their indictability and the object of offence.
Leading organization: MJ
Financial source: State budget
Term: 2003-2004
5.3 Initiating of a public discussion for effective implementation of penal repression towards perpetrators of sexual offences.
Leading organization: NCPC
Partners: MI, NGOs
Financial source: State budget, Donor funds
Term: Permanent
5.4 Raising of public awareness, introducing the citizens to their rights and obligations of citizens and the possibilities for action in concrete cases by distribution of informational materials and other suitable forms.
Leading organization: SACP
Partners: MI, NGOs, IOM
Financial source: State budget, Donor funds
Term: 2004-2005
5.5 Encouraging the participation of Internet providers to work consciously with the relevant government institutions for stating and combating the different ways, trough that the Internet can be used for sexual exploitation of children.
Leading organization: MI
Partners: SACP, NGOs
Financial source: State budget, Donor funds
Term: 2003-2005
5.6 Ensuring resources for using software for tracing of illegal and harmful content of Internet, as well as stating the whereabouts and identity of persons, which create, edit or distribute child pornography, encourage or incite to child prostitution.
Leading organization: MI
Partners: NGOs
Financial source: State budget, Donor funds
Term: Permanent
5.7 Opening hot telephone lines, encouraging the citizens to report about cases of child pornography or instigation to child prostitution by a Internet site, which will allow for the relevant legal authorities to take concrete action.
Leading organization: MI
Financial source: State budget, Donor funds
Term: Permanent
5.8 Influence over the perpetrators by applying specialized social services, medical and psychological measures for treatment and reintegration.
Leading organization: SAA
Partners: MH, MLSP, MI-Institute of Psychology, SACP, NGOs
Financial sources: State budget, Donor funds
Term: 2004-2005
Chapter III:Rehabilitation and reintegration
Objective:
6. Rehabilitationandreintegrationofthe victimsofsexualexploitation
Activities:
6.1 Establishment of National hot child telephone line for psychological help and support and popularization of existing local telephone lines.
Leading organization: SACP, NGOs
Partners: NAMRB, NGOs
Financial source: State budget, Donor’s funds
Term: 2004
6.2 Creation of crisis-consultative centers for children-victims of violence and their parents and promotion of existing ones.
Leading organization: ASA, SACP, Municipalities
Partners: NGOs, RCCABMA
Financial source: State budget, Donor’s funds
Term: 2004-2005
6.3 Creating of shelters for temporary accommodation for victims of illegal traffic:
а) ensuring normal living conditions and personal hygiene;
b) giving the accommodated persons food and medicine
c) ensuring the urgent medical and psychological help;
d) assistance of accommodated persons for establishing a contact with their relatives, as well as with the specialized bodies and organizations.
Leading organization: The central level body, which will be created after the Law for trafficking in human beings
Partners: Municipalities, NGOs
Financial source: State budget, Municipal budget>, Donor’s funds
Term: 2004-2005
6.4 Improving the conditions in existing Homes for temporary accommodation of children /including victims of sexual exploitation/ by assisting of local authorities.
Leading organization: MI
Partners: IOM, NGOs
Financial source: Donor’s funds
Term: 2003
6.5 Establishment of centers for support and help of victims trafficking by:
а) giving information about administrative and legal procedures, which arrange assistance and protection of victims of illegal traffic in understandable language;
b) ensuring specialized psychological and medical help;
c) assisting the reintegration of victims in family and social environment.
Leading organization: The central level body, which will be created by the Law Against Trafficking in Human Beings
Partners: Municipalities, NGOs
Financial source: State budget, municipality budget and donor’s funds
Term: 2004 - 2005
Chapter IV:Children’s participation
Objective:
7. Children’s participation in development of appropriate strategies and measures for realization of all actions against sexual exploitation of children.
Activities:
7.1 Including children representatives for participation in working groups to Child Protection Council.
Leading organization: SACP
Partners: Children Parliaments, BYRC
Financial source: State budget, donor’s funds
Term: 2003
7.2 Including the children victims of violence in prevention and rehabilitation programs. Creating of self-help groups.
Leading organization: SAA - CPD
Partners: SACP, LCCABMA, NGOs
Financial source: State budget, donor’s funds
Term: Permanent
7.3 Invitation to children and young people for participation in different forums, organized from state bodies and NGOs, which develop children programs.
Leading organization: Organizers of the forum
Partners: BYRC, Children Parliament
Financial source: Relevant
Term: Permanent
Chapter V: Informational insurance and international cooperation
Objective:
8. Creating of national mechanism for informational exchange between engaged institutions and organizations.
Activities:
8.1 Development of mechanism for collecting information about children victims of commercial sexual exploitation and following the development of the concrete case.
Leading organization: MI
Partners: MJ, NSI, SACP, MH, MFA, CPD, CCCABMA, IOM, NGOs and others
Financial source: State budget
Term: Permanent
8.2 Creating of order for access to information and for the interaction between the institutions, which work on this problem.
Leading organization: MI
Partners: Engaged institutions
Financial source: State budget
Term: 2003 – 2004
8.3 Conducting of theme researches – risk groups of children and families, character and reaction against risk factors, level of the problem in Bulgaria. Researches to be made periodicaly and results to be announced.
Leading organization: National coordinator
Partners: Relevant
Financial source: State budget, donor funds
Term: 2003 - 2005
8.4 Collecting information for good practices on national and international level.
Leading organization: SACP
Partners: MI, MFA, MH, CPD, CCCABMA, IOM, NGOs and others
Financial source: State budget
Term: 2003 - 2005
8.5 Building a network of partners on international level for cooperation.
Leading organization: National coordinator
Partners: MFA, NGOs
Financial source: State budget
Term: Permanent
8.6 Collecting information about the implementation of the National Plan and preparing of periodical reports on international treaties on which Bulgaria is a party /UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Second Optional Protocol to it for selling children, child prostitution and child pornography/.
Leading organization: MFA
Partners: SACP and all engaged institutions
Financial source: Relevant
Term: Permanent
8.7 Creating and supporting of specialized Internet site of the problem.
Leading organization: National coordinator
Partners: all engaged institutions
Financial source: State budget
Term: Permanent
Chapter VI: National coordinator of the Plan
Functions of National coordinator on the National Plan are implemented jointly from the Minister of Interior and the Chairperson of the SACP.
SACP State Agency for Child Protection
MES Ministry of Education and Science
MC Ministry of Culture
MI Ministry of Interior
NPD National Police Directorate
MJ Ministry of Justice
MFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs
MLSP Ministry of Labor and Social Policy
MH Ministry of Health
MYS Ministry of Youth and Sport
SPOC Supreme Prosecution Office of Cassation
PO Prosecution Office
MTC Magistrates Training Center
AR Agency for Refugees
CPD Child Protection Department
CCCABMA Central Commission for Combating Antisocial Behavior of Minors and Adolescents
LCCABMA Local Commission for Combating Antisocial Behavior of Minors and Adolescents
NGOs Nongovernmental organizations
IOM International organization for migration
NAMRB National Association of Municipalities in Republic of Bulgaria
BGRF Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation
SAA Social Assistance Agency
NSI National Statistic Institute
BYRC Bulgarian Youth Red Cross
PPC Penal Procedure Code
CPA Child Protection Act
HRECDPC Homes for raising and education of children deprived from parental care
EBS Educational board school
SPB Social – Pedagogical Board
AS Auxiliary Schools
BMU Bulgarian Medical Union
EMC Electronic Media Council