Montenegro joins Council of Europe campaign to stop sexual violence against children

Podgorica, Montenegro (10 February 2012) – Prime Minister Igor Lukšić held a working meeting to define Montenegro's steps to get involved actively in the Council of Europe's (CoE) campaign “One in five” which aims to reduce and stop the sexual violence against children.

The CoE research data point to the dramatic extent of sexual violence against children. According to the data, every fifth child in Europe was exposed to some form of sexual violence and in 70-85% of cases the abuser was a person whom the child knew and trusted.

As a Council of Europe member state, Montenegro signed the Lanzarote Convention on 18 June 2009 and ratified it on 25 November 2010, which marks the first step to ending sexual violence against children and confirms Montenegro’s clear commitment to stop this phenomenon and ensure happy and carefree childhood for all children.

Today’s meeting saw the agreement to set up the national team that will draft the campaign programme, hoping for all social stakeholders to take part.