Agenda Item 3: Clustered Interactive Dialogue with
Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio,
and Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan Mendez
As delivered by Ambassador Keith Harper, U.S. Representative to the Human Rights Council
31st Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Geneva,
March 8, 2016
The United States welcomes this opportunity to hear from Special Rapporteurs Boer-Buquicchio and Mendez, and thanks them for their comments.
Special Rapporteur Boer-Buquicchio’s report focuses on the demand that is causing sexual exploitation of children. The United States agrees that sharply reducing demand is critical to help eradicate these heinous crimes. How would she recommend engaging with faith-based communities in our efforts to eliminate demand for child sexual exploitation?
The report by Special Rapporteur Mendez makes the important observation that the particular “mental health needs” of girl children in detention “often go unrecognized.” Girls, he observes, suffer “disproportionately from depression and anxiety and exhibit… a higher risk of self-harm or suicide than boys or adults.”
Special Rapporteur Mendez, could you discuss in greater detail the best practices for addressing the particular mental health needs of girls in detention?
(end statement)