YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Parliament today ratified the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse with 79 votes in favor and 12 against.

Armenia had signed the convention in 2010.

The convention is a comprehensive international tool aimed at preventing sexual exploitation and abuse of children, protection of victims, implementing duly investigation, awareness and cooperation.

The Convention also establishes programmes to support victims, encourages people to report suspected sexual exploitation and abuse, and sets up telephone and internet helplines for children. It also ensures that certain types of conduct are classified as criminal offences, such as engaging in sexual activities with a child below the legal age and child prostitution and pornography. The Convention also criminalises the solicitation of children for sexual purposes ("grooming") and "sex tourism".

With the aim of combating child sex tourism, the Convention establishes that individuals can be prosecuted for some offences even when the act is committed abroad. The new legal tool also ensures that child victims are protected during judicial proceedings, for example with regard to their identity and privacy.

Deputy Minister of Justice Kristine Grigoryan, who presented to lawmakers the convention, also briefed the legislators on the statistics in Armenia for the past three years.

She said that in 2017 investigative bodies investigated 265 criminal cases concerning crimes committed against children, of which 101 were of sexual nature. In 2018 the number of investigations was 317, 76 being of sexual nature. In 2019, only in Q1 there were 209 criminal cases with 51 being of sexual nature, she said.

Opposition lawmaker Gevorg Petrosyan from the Prosperous Armenia (BHK) party said the convention includes clauses which in his words give hope that an attempt is made in Armenia to exercise human rights protection more comprehensively, however he said he believes the convention also includes clauses which “jeopardize the disciplinary interests of children”. According to him, some representatives of the Armenian Church have contacted him and expressed their disapproval of the convention.

Petrosyan was particularly concerned with the fact that the convention foresees educating children about the threats of sexual abuse and self-defense measures as early as from 1st to 4th grades. “Don’t they have anything else to teach children of this age?” he said. He proposed to solve the matter by more severe accountability in the criminal code.

Parliament Majority Leader (My Step bloc) Lilit Makunts reminded that all factions had voted in favor during a committee hearing earlier.

Addressing Petrosyan, she said: “I am sorry that some individuals are able to impact your stance. However, this convention is in the interest of children, it is a convention against pedophilia, which will prevent pedophilia in Armenia,” she said.

Vice Speaker Vahe Enfiajyan from the opposition BHK also spoke in favor of additional hearings on the matter.

Reporting by Anna Grigoryan; Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan