CRC/C/GC/13
videos of children and those making a mockery of an individual child or categories of
children;
(c)
Children as users of ICT:
(i)
As recipients of information, children may be exposed to actually or
potentially harmful advertisements, spam, sponsorship, personal information and
content which is aggressive, violent, hateful, biased, racist, pornographic 11 ,
unwelcome and/or misleading;
(ii)
As children in contact with others through ICT, children may be bullied,
harassed or stalked (child “luring”) and/or coerced, tricked or persuaded into
meeting strangers off-line, being “groomed” for involvement in sexual activities
and/or providing personal information;
(iii) As actors, children may become involved in bullying or harassing others,
playing games that negatively influence their psychological development, creating
and uploading inappropriate sexual material, providing misleading information or
advice, and/or illegal downloading, hacking, gambling, financial scams and/or
terrorism. 12
32.
Institutional and system violations of child rights. Authorities at all levels of the
State responsible for the protection of children from all forms of violence may directly and
indirectly cause harm by lacking effective means of implementation of obligations under
the Convention. Such omissions include the failure to adopt or revise legislation and other
provisions, inadequate implementation of laws and other regulations and insufficient
provision of material, technical and human resources and capacities to identify, prevent and
react to violence against children. It is also an omission when measures and programmes
are not equipped with sufficient means to assess, monitor and evaluate progress or
shortcomings of the activities to end violence against children. Also, in the commission of
certain acts, professionals may abuse children’s right to freedom from violence, for
example, when they execute their responsibilities in a way that disregards the best interests,
the views and the developmental objectives of the child.
2.
“while in the care of…”
33.
Definition of “caregivers”. The Committee considers that, while respecting the
evolving capacities and progressive autonomy of the child, all human beings below the age
of 18 years are nonetheless “in the care of” someone, or should be. There are only three
conditions for children: emancipated 13 , in the care of primary or proxy caregivers, or in the
11
12
13
12
Exposure to pornography can lead to an increase in child-on-child sexual abuse as children exposed to
pornography “try out” what they have seen in practice with younger children or those to whom they
have easy access and over whom they have control.
Adapted from a table developed by the EUKids Online project, cited in AUPs in Context:
Establishing Safe and Responsible Online Behaviours (Becta, 2009), p. 6. See also the Rio de Janeiro
Declaration and Call for Action to Prevent and Stop Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents.
Available from
http://iiicongressomundial.net/congresso/arquivos/Rio%20Declaration%20and%20Call%20for%20Ac
tion%20-%20FINAL%20Version.pdf.
In line with the Committee’s previous recommendation to States parties to increase the age for
marriage to 18 years for both girls and boys (general comment No. 4 (2003) on adolescent health and
development in the context of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, para. 20), and given their
specific vulnerability to maltreatment, the Committee considers that article 19 applies also to children
under the age of 18 who have attained majority or emancipation through early marriage and/or forced
marriage.