Recently, the news of a well-known media personality possessing pornographic materials that involve the exploitation of children and the youth has been widely reported by the media. In its independent opinions on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) issued in 2022, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) concluded that the most commonly types of sexual exploitation involving children and the youth pertained to pornographic materials and private images, and the NHRC continues to urge the government to crack down on criminal activities involving child pornography by enforcing the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (OPSC) through domestic legislation in order to align Taiwan with international human rights standards.
According to the NHRC, Taiwan promulgated the Implementation Act of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 2014, and issued its Initial National Report on CRC as well as initiated an international review in 2016. A few years later, during the preparation for the second national report and international review, the NHRC completed an inventory of national policies regarding the OPSC, recommending its adoption to the government. Indeed, members on the international review committee asked on both occasions in 2017 and 2022 about issues related to child and youth sexual exploitation, questioning Taiwan’s lack of domestic laws to enforce the OPSC. In the concluding observations, the committee recommends that “the Government produces and implements a comprehensive policy, that includes the implementation of the general principles of the CRC, to prevent the sale and sexual exploitation of children.
Although the Taiwanese government has made amendments to the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act in 2023 to provide additional safeguards, the speed of technological advancements continues to complicate the prevention of child and youth sexual exploitation. According to the NHRC, in addition to improving the regulatory system and the corresponding supportive measures, the government shall promote awareness of and digital literacy for preventing child and youth sexual exploitation through the internet, with the ultimate goal of stopping all forms of sexual exploitation in children and the youth in accordance with Article 34 of the CRC.
◆ For the international review committee’s concluding observations on Taiwan’s national reports on CRC in 2017 and 2022, as well as the NHRC’s parallel response to the list of issues with the consideration of the CRC second report, see the NHRC’s official website:
https://nhrc.cy.gov.tw/en-US/cp.aspx?n=8696
◆ For more information on the OPSC, please see : https://crc.sfaa.gov.tw/CRCEn/Document?folderid=108