CRC/C/GEO/CO/4 (g) Low awareness of child protection referral procedures among the general population and of the child protection system among professionals, the absence of guidelines for the implementation of those procedures for all health and education professionals in the child protection system and for the law enforcement agents involved, and reluctance among law enforcement offices over implementation of the procedures. 22. In the light of its general comments No. 8 (2006) on the right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment and No. 13 (2011) on the right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence and taking note of target 16.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals on ending abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children, the Committee urges the State party to: (a) Adopt legislation explicitly prohibiting all forms of corporal punishment of children in all settings, including educational institutions, alternative care institutions and the home; (b) Further strengthen programmes and policies combating violence against children, including community-based programmes and campaigns aimed at preventing and tackling domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, and involve children, former child victims, volunteers and community members in their implementation so as to promote positive, non-violent and participatory forms of child-rearing and discipline; (c) Improve the implementation of the child referral protection mechanism by increasing the number of professionals working with families and children, in particular law enforcement personnel, social workers and service providers; (d) Support social workers to ensure that the best interests of the child are addressed in the child referral mechanism and adopt the rehabilitation and reintegration of child victims as the ultimate goal of the services provided by social workers; (e) Extend the coverage of counselling services for children and parents for the prevention of violence and increase the number of psychological service centres for children; (f) Ensure that mandaturi are active in all schools, extend their mandate to kindergartens and childcare facilities and reinforce their capacity for the identification, reporting and management of cases of violence and abuse in schools, using a multidisciplinary and multisectoral approach; (g) Develop appropriate guidelines for the implementation of child referral protection procedures for all professionals involved in the child protection system (including teachers, social workers, kindergarten personnel, medical professionals and members of the police and the judiciary) and ensure that they receive training on those procedures and the corresponding guidelines, as well as on their obligation to report on and take appropriate action in suspected cases of domestic violence affecting children; (h) Cooperate with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children and other relevant United Nations bodies. Sexual exploitation and abuse 23. The Committee is deeply concerned by: (a) The lack of comprehensive legislation to criminalize and prevent the sexual exploitation of children and the lack of a corresponding strategy and coordination body in charge of its implementation; (b) Insufficient data on the scope and different forms of sexual abuse, exploitation and abuse in the family and studies on the root causes of those phenomena and on the impact of information and communications technologies on child sexual abuse and exploitation; 7

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