YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Armenia has become the 47th state to have completed the ratification of the Council of Europe’s Convention on Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (“Lanzarote Convention”), the CoE reported today.

The Permanent Representative of Armenia to the Council of Europe, Ambassador Paruyr Hovhannisyan, deposited the instrument of ratification in the presence of Deputy Secretary General, Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni.

Ms Battaini-Dragoni said: “I welcome ratification of the Lanzarote Convention by Armenia. The Convention is a unique tool for preventing and fighting one of the most atrocious crimes, that is unfortunately still all too common in our society.”

The Convention will enter into force in Armenia on 1 January 2021.

The Council of Europe Convention on Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, also known as “the Lanzarote Convention”, was signed in Lanzarote, Spain in 2007. The Lanzarote Convention obliges states to criminalize all kinds of sexual offences against children, including online, to protect victims and to prosecute perpetrators.