News

Ministers launched a national plan last week for tackling commercial child sexual exploitation around the world.

The National Plan for Safeguard-ing Children from Commercial Sexual Exploitation outlines what the government and agencies are doing to protect children globally from being drawn into prostitution, sex tourism, pornography and exploitation over the internet.

Published jointly by the department of health and the home office, the plan says government efforts are concentrating on three key areas: ensuring that guidance to protect children from being involved in prostitution is being implemented; promoting guidance on the safe use of the internet to parents, schools and children; and fostering international co-operation to assess the scale of, and combat, the sexual exploitation of children.

Health minister Jacqui Smith said the task of safeguarding children was continuous, and the plan would be developed year on year to ensure that it continued to focus on priorities for action.

"We all have a duty to protect these children and must do everything in our power to remove those who gain from their exploitation," she said.

Policy adviser on child protection at the NSPCC Chris Atkinson welcomed the national plan, but said its priorities for future action needed to be recognised and resourced in the government's forthcoming comprehensive spending review if the plan was to work.

Publication of the report coincided with a meeting in Bath of legal experts from around the world to discuss the launch of a Children's Protection Network, a permanent team of lawyers and experts on child exploitation legal issues who will work with existing agencies to represent or assist children.