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Thirty-Ninth Amendment To Penal Code, Approved By Decree-Law No. 400/82, Of 23 September, Transposing The 2011 Policy/93/eu Of The European Parliament And Of The Council Of 13 December 2011, And Creates The System For Recording Criminal Identification ...

Original Language Title: Trigésima nona alteração ao Código Penal, aprovado pelo Decreto-Lei n.º 400/82, de 23 de setembro, transpondo a Diretiva 2011/93/UE, do Parlamento Europeu e do Conselho, de 13 de dezembro de 2011, e cria o sistema de registo de identificação criminal de c

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PORTUGUESE COMMUNIST PARTY

Parliamentary Group

BILL OF LAW No. 886 / XII-4.

NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AGAINST SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND THE

SEXUAL ABUSE

The Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Child was proclaimed by the United Nations to

September 20, 1959, and past 20 years has been celebrated the International Year of the Child.

However, in 1989 alone with the adoption by the UN of the International Convention on the Rights of the

Child (ratified by Portugal the following year) the child went on to be regarded as a citizen

endowed with capacity to be the holder of rights.

All children must be assured of the right to protection and special care, the right to

love and affection, by respect for their own identity, the right to difference and social dignity, the

right to be desired, to physical integrity, to proper nutrition, to clothing, to

housing, health, safety, instruction and education.

These rights are intimately linked to the happiness and well-being of families and those of the

surround, that is, to the effective fulfillment of civil, social, economic and cultural rights by

of the State, as well as by taking on the responsibilities to ensure in the practice of the life of the

children, the principles of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and other international principles,

as that of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by Portugal in the year 1990.

PORTUGUESE COMMUNIST PARTY

Parliamentary Group

Pese although the term of these fundamental rights in the form of law, the daily life of thousands

of children in our country is today marked by denial of rights.

The Annual Internal Security Report (RASI) of 2014, given to the public at the end of March

of 2015, indicates that there are more and more cases of sexual abuse to minors to be participated in the

organs of criminal police in Portugal.

According to the data of the RASI, the cases of sexual abuse of children, adolescents and minors

dependents rose by 17.7% percent between 2013 and 2014, maintaining an uphill trend that had already been

deteed in the previous years.

The Convention of the Council of Europe for the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and the

Sexual Abuse, signed in Lanzarote on October 25, 2007, entered into force for the Republic

Portuguese on the December 1, 2012, after approved, unanimously, for ratification,

through the Resolution of the Assembly of the Republic No. 75/2012 of March 9 and ratified by the Decree

of the President of the Republic No 90/2012 of May 28.

It is an important legal step that deserves the whole valorisation, given its importance in the

defence of the rights of children, specifically in the face of the scourge of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse,

equally deserving the entire enhancement to the perspetive of strengthening the protection of children against

any form of violence, abuse and sexual exploitation.

Precisely because this theme deserves the whole valorisation, it makes perfect sense to demand that

must follow up on this legal advancement, a firm advance in the realization of preventive action in

PORTUGUESE COMMUNIST PARTY

Parliamentary Group

Portugal, the adoption of concrete awareness-raising measures, and the strengthening of protection and security of the

children victims of trafficking and abuse and sexual exploitation.

It is considered that in order to realize effective and multidisciplinary combat to this scourge, it becomes

imperious to define a national strategy for the prevention and combat of sexual abuse to children, by the

that the strengthening of the material and human means of preventive intervention is indispensable.

In times of worsening poverty and exploitation, the creation of new forms of poverty, the

women and children are at the forefront of this reality. So, it is urgent to create new

mechanisms of action and prevention, mechanisms those that protect, effectively, the victims more

vulnerable, avoiding the revitimization, often promoted by economic and social policies

existing.

The harsh antisocial measures that are ongoing at the national level, aggravate the exploitation and increase the

poverty, decreasing wages and pensions, destroying essential public services, pushing for the

poverty thousands of people.

In this economic and social framework, it increases poverty among the most vulnerable, namely the

children. According to recent statistical data, it checks the practice of crimes against three children

per day, not being accounted for the social disprotection to which these policies have voted for our

children: the insufficiency of public infrastructure support for childhood, the problems of abandonment and

school unsuccess, the brutal incarceration of Education and, even, the growing hunger among children.

PORTUGUESE COMMUNIST PARTY

Parliamentary Group

For these reasons, it is understood that it constitutes an indeclinable incumbent of the Portuguese state the adoption

of preventive measures, through a specific National Strategy of prevention against the

sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, to raise awareness and citizen education in these subjects; the creation

of supporting structures; the assurance that, through Law and Justice, a new culture will be erecting

of the rights of the Child; the strengthening of policies against trafficking in human beings; the guarantee that neither

more of a child is a victim of any kind of abuse, protecting children in law and life.

Aware of this reality, the CFP presented in the past legislature, in the Legislative Assembly of the Region

Autonomous from Madeira, a legislative initiative proposing the adoption of a National Strategy for the

Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. This initiative was approved by

unanimity in the Legislative Assembly, having given rise to the Proposal for Law No. 233 /XII submitted to the

Assembly of the Republic on June 6, 2014. This initiative was appreciated in the generality in 15 of

january 2015, lowered the commission without a vote for new appreciation, but lapsed due to the term of the

legislature of the proposing Legislative Assembly.

In these terms, the Parliamentary Group of the CPP considers it appropriate to resume the initiative in the Assembly of the

Republic, without having to wait for new initiative of ALRAM, so under the provisions

applicable constitutional and regimental, the lower-signed Deputies of the CPP Parliamentary Group

present the following Law Project:

Article 1.

Object

It is created by this Law the National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation and

the Sexual Abuse, hereinafter referred to as the National Strategy.

PORTUGUESE COMMUNIST PARTY

Parliamentary Group

Article 2º

Scope

1-A The National Strategy will implement throughout the national territory guidelines resulting from the

Convention of the Council of Europe for the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Abuses

Sexual offences, signed in Lanzarote on October 25, 2007, on the subjects reporting to the incumbents

of the Portuguese State.

2-A The National Strategy is aimed at intervening by contemplating the following strands:

(a) to prevent and combat sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children;

b) Protect the rights of children victims of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.

Article 3º

Definitions

For the purposes of this Law and in line with the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of

of the Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, is understood by:

a) "Child": any person under the age of 18 years;

b) "Sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children": all qualifying practices as infringement

penal law in the terms of the Portuguese Criminal Law;

(c) "Victim": any child affected by sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.

Article 4º

Goals

The National Strategy has as its objectives:

PORTUGUESE COMMUNIST PARTY

Parliamentary Group

a) Eradicating in Portugal the problems of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children;

b) Planify state intervention and the intervention of public bodies and the community in the

prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse of children;

c) Implementing effective intervention measures aimed at preventing the risks of acts of

sexual exploitation and sexual abuse against children;

d) Organize specific campaigns of education for the protection and rights of the Child;

(e) concretizing actions of diffusion of administrative measures, policies and social programs with the

purpose of preventing the occurrence of acts of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of the

children;

f) Developing awareness programmes of populations, through the media

social media, on the phenomenon of sexual exploitation and on the sexual abuse of children;

g) Ensuring dynamisation, particularly in the sectors of Justice, Education, Health and Action

Social, policies for the prevention of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children;

h) Establish and disseminate effective social programs of support for victims, their relatives

next and to any person to whom they are entrusted;

i) Reforce active social responses and multidisciplinary structures meant to provide support to the

victims, with the necessary protective and assistance measures.

Article 5º

Tutela

The National Strategy is defined, coordinated and developed under the tutelage of the Ministry of Justice, which

guarantees the physical, human and material means necessary for its implementation and assigns to it the

corresponding budgetary allocations.

PORTUGUESE COMMUNIST PARTY

Parliamentary Group

Article 6º

Monitoring unit

For monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of the National Strategy and of the specific measures to

implement in the framework of this Law, the Monitoring Unit is created.

Article 7º

Composition

The Monitoring Unit is composed of:

a) a personality to be indicated by the Prosecutor General of the Republic, who presides;

b) A representative of the Ministry of Justice;

c) A representative of the Ministry of Education;

d) A representative of the Ministry of Health;

e) a personality to be indicated by the ombudsman;

f) A representative of the National Commission for the Protection of Children and Young People at Risk;

g) A representative of Social Security;

(h) A representative of the Order of Lawyers;

(i) A representative of the Union of Misericordias;

j) A representative of the Union of Particular Social Solidarity Institutions.

Article 8º

Installation

The Monitoring Unit will be installed by the Ministry of Justice within 90 days of the entry

in force of this Law.

PORTUGUESE COMMUNIST PARTY

Parliamentary Group

Article 9º

Annual report

The Monitoring Unit elaborates and makes it public, in each year of implementation of the Strategy

National, the Report for the evaluation of the effectiveness of prevention policies and the protection of children against

sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.

Article 10º

Annual debate

The Assembly of the Republic carries out, annually, inserted in the commemoration of the "World Children's Day", 1

of June, a debate on the protection of children and, in particular, concerning measures to combat the

sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.

Article 11º

Regulation

The Government shall carry out the regulations of this Law within 60 days of its entry into force.

Article 12º

Entry into force

This Law shall come into force with the publication of the State Budget subsequent to its publication.

Assembly of the Republic, April 22, 2015

The Deputies,

RITA RATO; ANTÓNIO FILIPE; PAULA SANTOS; JORGE MACHADO; PAULO SÁ; JOÃO RAMOS; MIGUEL

TIAGO; DAVID COSTA; FRANCISCO LOPES; BRUNO DIAS; DIANA FERREIRA; CARLA CRUZ