A/HRC/25/48 Serious consequences 28. All forms of abuse, violence and exploitation have serious short- and long-term physical, psychological and social effects, not only for the girls and boys who are the direct victims, but also for their families and communities. Victims of sexual violence are at high risk of unwanted pregnancy and of contracting HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. In their daily lives, they are confronted with social stigma, family rejection, psychological stress and depression. Images of sexually exploited children circulated online will never disappear, which has a devastating effect on victims. The development of responses and care for victims, including reparation and rehabilitation, needs to address these consequences. C. Increased vulnerability and new risk factors 29. The current patterns of the sale and sexual exploitation of children are explained by a number of critical aspects of the protective environment around children, and unfold in a context in which those aspects are affected. Vulnerability is a function of a child’s exposure to risk and his or her resilience; it depends on the situation of the child, but most importantly on the child’s immediate environment and the broader context. All these elements are interdependent.15 30. The underlying push and pull factors that affect the sale and sexual exploitation of children are multidimensional and are linked to the political, legal, socioeconomic, cultural and environmental context, both at national and transnational levels. 31. Today, more children are at risk of sale and sexual exploitation than was previously the case. The gravity of these risks has increased due to the combined effect of more profound and lasting disruptions in children’s protective environments and the development of global integration and instruments for committing crimes. 1. Weakening of families 32. The family represents the first layer of a child’s protective environment. When families are not able to fulfil their protective role because of the absence of one or two parents, a lack of parental skills or insufficient resources, children are particularly at risk of being exploited. 33. Recent studies have highlighted numerous factors that have affected the ability of families to care for their children. With the economic crisis, parents have been forced to spend longer hours at work, leaving children unattended. 34. However, economic circumstances are not the only factors that weaken families. A UNICEF study has found that children in Eastern Europe and Central Asia are increasingly being separated from their parents, indicating greater vulnerability of families. The study underlines that the fact that the vast array of causes, including poverty, single parenthood, migration, deprivation of parental rights, and disability of the child, actually 15 8 See the report of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography on effective prevention strategies in combating the sale and sexual exploitation of children (A/68/275).