Madi Sharma
This morning we hosted a well-attended press conference to draw attention to a Committee own-initiative opinion (adopted by the plenary in the afternoon) drafted by Madi Sharma (UK, Employers’ Group) on the protection of children from travelling sex offenders. The opinion makes for chilling reading. Conservative statistics for 2006 calculate that out of 842 million travellers in that year, 4.5% were sex ‘tourists’ (a term Sharma thinks is misleading, by the way) and 10% of those were paedophiles. Flanked by her President and SG, Sharma called for urgent action and we immediately set the example by signing before the journalists two decisions establishing ethical travel policies for our members and our staff. You can read the opinion here. One of Sharma’s main calls is for all EU member states to sign and ratify UNICEF’s Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. The opinion names and shames those member states that haven’t yet signed.
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