Public Policy for the Prevention and Eradication of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Girls, Boys, and Adolescents

This document focuses on the actions that the state must undertake at the national, departmental, and municipal levels to prevent circumstances of commercial sexual exploitation, provide victims with care, and strengthen the prosecution of perpetrators.  It is an administrative instrument for all institutions that are part of the executive branch of the government.

Key aspects of this document include the following:

• The document discusses the harms caused by commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents, noting that child marriage and early unions in Colombia is compounded by an insufficient supply of comprehensive sexual health services, the persistence of armed conflict in the country, and gaps related to various factors that include ethnicity and location (in particular, in rural communities).
• The principles underlying this policy are comprehensive protection, the best interests of children and adolescents; the prevalence of their rights; and the co-responsibility of the family, the State, and society.
• The document emphasizes the need for a differential approach that recognizes that particularities and needs require a differential response. The policy notes that ethnic groups, urban-rural gaps, the consequences of the armed conflict, and the social transformations being carried out as part of the peace process must also be considered.
• The crime of trafficking children and adolescents for sexual purposes in Colombia has been perpetrated by organized networks, which are often related to illegal armed groups or drug trafficking gangs in areas of armed conflict, mining, and other illicit economic sectors.
• As a public policy, the document establishes a management framework through three strategic axes focused on: “i) promotion of rights, prevention, participation and social mobilization; ii) care and restoration of rights; and iii) prosecution, surveillance and control of sexual exploiters.” The policy also articulates four cross-cutting areas, those being: “i) institutional architecture and public policy management; ii) international cooperation and foreign policy; iii) knowledge management; and iv) monitoring and evaluation” (Section 6).