A/HRC/43/40 some vulnerable communities. 30 The majority of the victims are migrating children, children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, street children and children subjected to other forms of exclusion. 41. The Special Rapporteur notes the recent progress made with regard to launching awareness-raising campaigns, supporting community-based protection systems, 31 and criminalizing these activities in multiple national legal systems. She welcomes the adoption by the World Tourism Organization in 2019 of the Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics as an important step in combating the exploitation of children in travel and tourism and urges all States to expedite its ratification. In addition to complementing international human rights standards on the rights of the child, the Framework Convention will support the realization of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals on promoting sustainable tourism and ending all forms of violence against children. 42. The Special Rapporteur observed during her country visits that the number of convictions for travelling child sex offenders remains alarmingly low. It is therefore important to put emphasis on enforcement of all laws that protect children from sale and sexual exploitation. More robust awareness-raising activities targeting vulnerable communities, the tourism industry and employment agencies are also needed to tackle impunity and reach out to victims. 4. Sale and sexual exploitation of children in the context of sports 43. Intrinsically linked to the sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism is their exploitation in the context of sports and major sporting events (see A/HRC/40/51). The power dynamics and the lack of independent oversight inherent to the sporting industry render children particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation, including in situations such as the locker room, the playing field, trips away, the coach’s home or social events. Other human rights violations include the trafficking of young players between clubs and child labour, in particular during the build-up to major sporting events. In 2016, the European Commission estimated that between 2 and 8 per cent of athletes, both minors and young adults, had been victims of sexual assault in the context of sports. 32 Increased awareness about these phenomena has been made possible due to the courage of children to speak out about the abuses that they have suffered. However, the fear of being publicly identified, shamed, disbelieved or blamed keeps the majority of victims silent. Many are simply not able to recognise abusive relationships. 44. There is a plethora of standards, regulations, policies and codes of conduct dealing with the rights of the child in the context of sports (A/HRC/40/51, paras. 36–50). Nonetheless, different approaches are followed and there is no standard use of terminology. This leads to inconsistencies and may weaken protection. 45. The Special Rapporteur notes efforts by various stakeholders, including sporting federations and associations, to promote the implementation of child protection safeguarding instruments.33 Nonetheless, much more needs to be done to ensure access to justice and comprehensive care, recovery and reintegration services for the victims. In line with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (A/HRC/17/31, annex), proper measures should be put in place by sports organizations to prevent, investigate, punish and redress abuses. 5. Sale and sexual exploitation of children in the context of peacekeeping 46. Lack of accountability in instances of sexual exploitation of children in peacekeeping operations and humanitarian action has also been raised by the Special Rapporteur (A/72/164, para. 84). Following a 2016 report of the External Independent 30 31 32 33 8 See the submissions from Mexico and the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines. OHCHR, “End-of-mission statement of the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, on her visit to the Gambia (21–29 October 2019)”, 29 October 2019. European Commission, Expert Group on Governance, “Recommendations on the protection of young athletes and safeguarding children’s rights in sport: final document”, July 2016. For an example of such efforts, see www.coe.int/en/web/children/2019-edition.