A/HRC/33/15 proceedings involving children, children’s attorneys and the employment of children. The Children’s Authority, which had been established by the Children’s Authority Act, 2000, served as the hub of the new national child protection system, and performed several key functions geared towards safeguarding and improving the lives of children in Trinidad and Tobago. The Children’s Authority received and investigated reports of the mistreatment of children and, in order to deliver the most effective service, had established a 24-hour helpline for reporting such offences anonymously. It had also established an emergency response team to investigate reports of the mistreatment of children, which operated on a 24-hour basis. 23. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago had devised a number of programmes and initiatives to promote and protect the rights of children. The Family and Children Division Bill, 2016, sought to grant jurisdiction over all matters relating to families and children to a specific division of the High Court. 24. Trinidad and Tobago was a State party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. National legislation also gave effect to the provisions of those treaties, for example through the International Child Abduction Act, 2008. A civil child abduction unit within the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs served a central authority in matters of parental abduction. Other measures included a child advocacy unit, which operated out of the Solicitors General’s Department. 25. Further measures had included the establishment of a child protection unit within the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, which was staffed by specially trained officers. Its mandate was to investigate all matters pertaining to child abuse. Child protection units existed in more than half of the police geographical divisions. 26. Since its first universal periodic review, Trinidad and Tobago had passed the Children Act, 2012, which prohibited the use of corporal punishment in schools. The Act had also addressed issues relating to the sale of children, child pornography and child prostitution. Those measures were supported by the Trafficking in Persons Act, 2011, which also provided some protection for children from heinous crimes. 27. The protection of the rights of the women of Trinidad and Tobago was of fundamental importance to the Government. The Government had recognized that in Trinidad and Tobago, as in any society, women fell victim to domestic violence, sexual harassment and other forms of emotional and verbal abuse. In addition to specific legislation covering many of those offences, women were also protected under the Sexual Offences Act, 1986. Other legislation that protected women from abuse and discrimination included the Domestic Violence Act, 1999, the Trafficking in Persons Act, 2011, and the Equal Opportunity Act, 2000. In 2012, the Maternity Protection Act, 1998, had been amended by the Miscellaneous Provisions (Maternity Protection and the Masters and Servants Ordinance) Act, 2012. Those specific pieces of legislation supplemented the provisions of section 4 of the Constitution, which enshrined the fundamental rights and freedoms of all citizens. 28. Education had been at the forefront of the Government’s investment in sustainable development. In 2015, Trinidad and Tobago had achieved universal early childhood care and education, which was coupled with its existing system of universal primary and universal secondary education and universal tertiary education up to the undergraduate level. In addition to those policy measures, important legislative changes had been introduced to promote the right to education. With the proclamation of the Children Act, 2012, the age range for compulsory schooling, previously 6 to 12 years, had been expanded to 5 to 16 years. 6