A/HRC/22/54 Sex tourism involving children is specifically mentioned in the preamble and in article 10 of the Optional Protocol. 43. Other main international legal instruments providing a legal basis to combat child sexual exploitation include the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and International Labour Organization Convention No. 105 (1957) concerning the Abolition of Forced Labour and Convention No. 182 (1999) concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour. 44. Relevant regional legislation in this regard includes the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the American Convention on Human Rights, and the Inter-American Convention on International Traffic in Minors. The European Union has also taken a number of directives in order to reinforce the protection of children against sexual exploitation, including directive 2011/92/EU on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography. 45. Most countries that submitted a response to the questionnaire of the Special Rapporteur sent in the preparation of the present report have provisions in their legislation to protect children from commercial sexual exploitation. While in most countries there is no specific legislation against travelling child sex offences, most national laws contain a range of provisions which are relevant to address sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism.30 These laws provide a list of offences relating to sexual abuse of children, child prostitution, child abuse images and trafficking of children for sexual purposes. These elements can be used to tackle the issue and provide a base for further legislative developments to strengthen the fight against CST. 46. Extraterritorial legislation is one of the key tools in combating CST, as it allows legal authorities to hold nationals and citizens accountable for crimes committed abroad and undertake prosecution in their country of origin. It decreases the likelihood of offenders escaping legal punishment while sending a clear message to all potential offenders. In 2011, 44 countries had implemented extraterritorial legislation enabling them to prosecute their nationals for crimes against children committed abroad.31 The use of extraterritorial legislation however can be challenging, labour-intensive and expensive, often requiring the police, the evidence and witnesses to travel in one direction or another. For these reasons, few countries that have adopted extraterritorial legislation have actually used it to stop citizens from exploiting children abroad. 47. For extraterritoriality to be of real value, however, it also requires the abolition of the double-criminality requirement, ensuring thus that a person is liable for the crime of CST regardless of whether that offence is punishable in the country where the act has been committed.32 48. The clear naming of this offence within the legislation is of primary importance. Bearing in mind that for linguistic or cultural reasons many languages may not have a 30 31 32 Most countries that submitted a response to the questionnaire of the Special Rapporteur in preparation to this report have in their legislation provisions to protect children against commercial sexual exploitation. ECPAT Netherlands, “Child Sex Tourism”, p. 21. Protection Project, International Child Sex Tourism: Scope of the Problem and Comparative Case Studies (2007), p 188. 11