A/HRC/22/55 prohibition or separate pieces of legislation addressing the various manifestations of violence. Yet, the gap between law and implementation remains wide and challenging. 65. The protection of children from sexual exploitation has generated high attention. Over 90 per cent of respondents highlight a legal prohibition on sexual violence against children, including prostitution; a ban on the procurement or offering of children for pornography and the possession and dissemination of images of child abuse, including via the Internet. Information from United Nations reports, including concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, confirm an accelerated rate of legislative activity in this area, although additional serious efforts remain necessary to promote effective implementation and address gaps and emerging concerns, including the protection of children from sale, the rise in child trafficking, the low number of prosecutions, the lack of data and the limited allocation of resources. 8 66. Although certain dimensions will require considerable work, this is an area where the positive influence of sustained advocacy and mobilization efforts can be seen, including in the framework of the campaign for the ratification and implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of Children, child prostitution and child pornography and the follow-up to the World Congresses against the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents. 67. Responses to the survey also confirm that the adoption of legislation banning the use of violence as a form of punishment or sentencing is gaining momentum, with more than 60 per cent of the responding States mentioning having in place a legal prohibition of inhuman sentencing, including life imprisonment and capital punishment. More than 20 per cent of responding States have a comprehensive ban on corporal punishment in all settings in place and over 50 per cent a partial prohibition. 68. Almost all States have foreseen in their laws specific penalties for perpetrators of violence against children. However, prevention has not received a similar attention and very few reports highlight a comprehensive legal framework to prevent incidents of violence. Similarly, while legislation on recovery and reintegration of child victims is mentioned in more than half of the replies, legal redress for acts of violence, including compensation, is reported by only 13 per cent of the respondents. 69. Child-sensitive counselling, reporting and complaint mechanisms constitute another area lacking investment. Although some respondents mention the availability of helplines and police services, in most cases child-focused mechanisms either are not in place or are ill-resourced, lacking human and financial capacity to address children’s concerns; in the majority of cases, national independent institutions are not available. Reporting on incidents of violence remains a challenge, with very few States having issued guidance for professionals working for and with children, and only 25 per cent having clear provisions on mandatory reporting. The guiding principles and recommendations presented by the Special Representative in a previous report on this matter (A/HRC/16/56) remain fully relevant to accelerating progress. 70. Another significant gap revealed by the survey is the dearth of data on laws, policies and advocacy on the gender dimensions of violence and the legal protection of girls: 40 per cent of the respondents provide no information on this question and less than 30 per cent mention positive initiatives. Legislation in the area remains a challenge, with less than half 8 See, for example, International Labour Office, Accelerating Action against Child Labour (Geneva, 2010); United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Global Report on Trafficking in Persons (2009); International Organization for Migration, IOM 2011 Case Data on Human Trafficking: Global Figures & Trends (2012). 15