Child Protection Services
DISCLAIMER: THE INFORMATION IN THIS CIRCULAR RELATING TO THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS OF SPECIFIC FOREIGN COUNTRIES IS PROVIDED FOR GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY AND MAY NOT BE TOTALLY ACCURATE IN A PARTICULAR CASE. QUESTIONS INVOLVING INTERPRETATION OF SPECIFIC FOREIGN LAWS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO FOREIGN LEGAL COUNSEL.
This is an official U.S. Government source. Inclusion of non-U.S. Government links does not imply endorsement of contents .
Consular Child Protection Services for U.S. citizens abroad includes information on the following issues:
- Child Abuse and Neglect Abroad
- Child Support Enforcement Abroad
- Child Exploitation Abroad
- Child Victims of Crime Abroad
- Child Abandonment Abroad
- Runaways Abroad
- Forced Marriages of Minors
- Behavior Modification Facilities Fact Sheet
- Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
Other U.S. Department of State offices follow very carefully the following matters related to the rights of children. Links are provided for these important concerns.
CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES
Consular Child Protection Services for U.S. citizens abroad in individual cases is the responsibility of the Bureau of Consular Affairs’ Office of American Citizen Services and Crisis Management. Our Office of Policy Review and Inter-Agency Liaison works closely with other U.S. Department of State offices, international organizations, and other U.S. Government agencies to develop policies and programs on child protection matters. Our Office of Children's Issues does not handle these matters. The responsibilities of our Office of Children's Issues include only International Parental Child Abduction and International Adoption
CONSULAR AUTHORITY FOR THE PROTECTION OF MINORS ABROAD:
- 22 U.S.C. 1731
- 22 C.F.R. 71.1; 71.6
- Vienna Convention on Consular Relations ("VCCR"), 21 UST 77 (1963) and comparable bilateral consular conventions
Article 5(h) of the VCCR specifically provides that consular functions include, "safeguarding... the interests of minors and other persons lacking full capacity who are nationals of the sending state, particularly where any guardianship or trusteeship is required with respect to such persons."
Article 37(b) of the VCCR generally requires the "competent authorities of the receiving state" (i.e., the country in which a foreign national is found) "to inform the competent consular post without delay of any case where the appointment of a guardian or trustee appears to be in the interests of a minor or other person lacking full capacity who is a national of the sending state."
Article 24 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, to which the United States more than 140 countries are parties, provides that "every child shall have... the right to such measures of protection as required by his status as a minor, on the part of his family, the society and the state."
SELECTED FEDERAL STATUTES
Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 , as amended, 42 USC 13031 (Child Abuse Reporting)
Protection of Children from Sexual Predators Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-314)
- 18 USC 2423(a) - transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
- 18 USC 2425 - use of interstate facilities to transmit information about a minor
- 18 USC 2423(b) - travel with intent to engage in sexual act with a juvenile
- 18 USC 1470 - transfer of obscene materials to minor
- 18 USC 1591 - Sex Trafficking of Children by force, fraud or coercion
Child Online Protection Act of 1998 (Omnibus Appropriations Bill, H.R. 4328, P.L. 105-277, Title XIV
International
- Second World Congress on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, December 2001
- Opening Statement of Head of U.S. Delegation, Second World Congress on Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children
- United Nations Background Note: Children's Rights
- U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prosititution and Child Pornography
- U.S. Department of State Information: Child Abuse and Neglect Abroad (under development)
- U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section: International Aspects of Child Exploitation
- 1999 International Conference Combating Child Pornography on the Internet
- Center for Europe's Children
- 1996, World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children
- World Congress Against Commercial Exploitation of Children: Legal Protection
- International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect
- ECPAT International
U.S. Government Agencies
- Inter-Agency Working Group on Child Abuse and Neglect
- Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section: Child Abuse
- Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau
- Department of Health and Human Services; Administration on Children, Youth and Families - Protecting the Well-Being of Children
- Military Family Resource Center
Bar and Bench
- ABA Center on Children and the Law
- ABA: Representing a Child in Abuse and Neglect Cases
- National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
Court Appointed Special Advocates and Guardians Ad Litem
- National Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse
- Information on Children and the Court System
- Guardian Ad Litem and Children and the Court System
Clearinghouses and Other Links
- National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
- Child Abuse Prevention Network
- National Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association
- American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
- National Foundation to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse
- U.S. Department of State, International Child Support Enforcement
- U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Child Support Recovery Act
- Passport Restrictions for Child Support
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): A Caseworker's Guide to Child Support Enforcement and Military Personnel
- Uniform Inter-State Family Support Act (1996)
- Department of Justice, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section
- Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section - Child Exploitation Statutes and Legislation
- Department of Justice, International Aspects of Child Exploitation
- Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime - Child Sexual Exploitation: Improving Investigations and Protecting Victims - A Blueprint for Action
- Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section: How to Report Child Pornography
- U.K. Home Office - Forced Marriage: A Choice by Right
- U.K. Home Office - Forced Marriages: Guidelines for Police
- U.K. Forieign and Commonwealth Office - Forced Marriage Unit
- U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office - Forced Marriage Information For VIctims
- Council of Europe Resolution 1465 (2005) Forced Marriages and Child Marriages
TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN AND CHILDREN
- 2002 Trafficking in Persons Report
- U.S. State Department Office to Monitor Trafficking in Persons
- 2002 Fact Sheet: Future U.S. Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons
- U.S. State Department's Office of Global Affairs - Trafficking in Women and Children
- Steps Taken to Stop the Trafficking in Women and Children - January 2000
- President's Interagency Council on Women
- Under Secretary for Global Affairs, Oral Testimony for Delivery to Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Subcommittee on Near East and South Asia Affairs, February 22, 2000
- Fact Sheet: Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings
- Fact Sheet: Combatting Trafficking in Women and Children in South Asia, March 22, 2000
- Executive Memorandum: March 11, 1998 - Steps to Combat Violence Against Women and Trafficking in Women and Girls
- Violence Against Women
OTHER CHILD PROTECTION ISSUES
TREATIES IN PROGRESS AND INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES FOR CHILD PROTECTION
- Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
- Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict
- ILO Convention #182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor
- Hague Convention of October 19, 1996 on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Cooperation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children : Project Objectives
OTHER CHILD PROTECTION RELATED LINKS
PARENTAL CHILD ABDUCTION AND INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION MATTERS
Our Office of Children's Issues is responsible for services related to international parental child abduction and international adoption matters.
- Office of Children's Issues (for international parental child abduction or international adoption issues ONLY )
- Office of Children's Issues Division of Responsibilities
- International Parental Child Abduction
- Child Passport Issuance Alert Program (for parental child abduction)
- International Adoption
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