A/HRC/43/40 environment for the child. In this context, jurisdictions allowing international surrogacy arrangements should verify that intending parents coming from abroad will be able to return to their countries of origin with their surrogate-born child, and that legal parentage will be recognized by the authorities of their country of origin. 43 59. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur has raised issues around the lack of comprehensive information about institutional oversight of commercial actors responsible for surrogacy practice. She also raised concerns over the possibility of abusive practices exploiting the economic vulnerabilities of women and girls and the power imbalances with medical professionals and the individuals requesting surrogacy arrangements. 60. While acknowledging the lack of international consensus on how to respond to this practice, the Special Rapporteur is concerned that the international and national regulatory vacuum on surrogacy arrangements often leaves children vulnerable to breaches of their fundamental rights. C. Root causes and risk factors of increased vulnerability 1. Understanding the root causes and the demand factor 61. The demand factor of the sale and sexual exploitation of children was examined in detail by the Special Rapporteur in her report in 2016 (A/HRC/31/58), with the aim of providing a broad strategy for the eradication of these crimes. Demand encompasses both the individual offenders who pay for sexual services involving children and the social, cultural, gender and institutional constructs that create an atmosphere in which the sexual exploitation of children is ignored, tolerated or even accepted.44 Demand also sustains and supports the profits of the transnational criminal networks, traffickers and other intermediaries. The Optional Protocol sets out specific obligations of States to prohibit and criminalize these crimes (arts. 1 and 3), and emphasizes the need to raise public awareness to reduce demand. It further calls States to adopt extraterritorial jurisdiction over these crimes in order to deal adequately with the often international nature of demand (arts. 4–7). 62. The profile of offenders responsible for the sexual abuse of children is diverse. The majority do not automatically have a sexual preference for children and can be classified as situational offenders, who often resort to prostitution involving children simply because it is available. This category of offenders may include tourists, business travellers, foreign workers, supporters travelling in the context of major sporting events, volunteers, government employees deployed overseas or expatriates on extended travel or residing abroad.45 63. The increased accessibility and availability of child sexual abuse material online appears to normalize this crime and may encourage potential offenders and increase the severity of abuse.46 This includes new phenomena, such as drawings and virtual representations of non-existing children in a sexualized manner, widely available on the Internet. 64. With regard to preferential offenders, law enforcement experts point out that these individuals have limited or no opportunities to seek assistance before they engage in harmful behaviour and criminal acts, an issue that is often overlooked by States. Existing effective prevention programmes designed to support potential offenders and prevent their engagement in acts of abuse should be scaled up. In general, comprehensive and evidencebased research is needed to better understand the characteristics of offenders. This will likely improve the quality and effectiveness of existing rehabilitation programmes. 65. Ultimately, the essential feature of most offenders is their knowledge or belief that their actions will go unpunished. Demand is also sustained by harmful social norms and practices. It is the responsibility of States to adopt and implement effective strategies based 43 44 45 46 See the submission from Save the Children Spain. Foundation ECPAT International, Power, Impunity and Anonymity: Understanding the Forces Driving the Demand for Sexual Exploitation of Children (Bangkok, 2016), p. 9. See the submission from Foundation ECPAT International. Further information received from the UNICEF Innocenti Office of Research. 11