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Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Tunisia (RATIFICATION: 2000)

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (b). Use, procuring or offering of a child for pornography or pornographic performances. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the Government’s indication that section 226bis of the Penal Code, which prohibits public offences against good behaviour or public morals by acts or words or wilful embarrassment of others in a manner that is offensive to decency, is partly a measure intended to prohibit the use, procuring or offering of a child in the pornographic industry. It also noted that it is prohibited for any person to publicly draw attention to an occasion on which debauchery is committed by means of written texts, recordings, or audio, visual, electronic, visible messages. The Government indicated that the expression “publicly draw attention to an occasion on which debauchery is committed” is directly related to the media referred to in section 226bis of the Penal Code, namely written or audio media, including the Internet, which are of a nature to facilitate incitement to debauchery and that these practices may include pornographic photographs or films, and pornographic performances. The Committee noted the information in the Government’s report that the use, procuring or offering of a child for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances are acts which fall within the scope of section 226bis of the Penal Code inasmuch as incitement to paedophilia is one of the worst forms of debauchery covered by this provision. Furthermore, the Government indicated that, by virtue of section 232(4) of the Penal Code, it is an offence to recruit, lure or maintain a person and hand over that person to prostitution or debauchery, and that section 233 expressly provides for a penalty of three to five years’ imprisonment if this offence is committed with regard to a minor. Noting the absence of information on this point in the Government’s report, the Committee, therefore, again urges the Government to supply information on the application in practice of sections 226bis, 232 and 233 of the Penal Code so that it can assess whether this provision can be applied effectively to prohibit the use, procuring and offering of a child under 18 years of age for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances.

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms. Sexual exploitation of children and paedophilia via the Internet. The Committee previously noted the Government’s indications concerning the setting up of a specialist unit in the national police to combat the sexual exploitation of children and paedophilia via the Internet, whose officers receive specialized training so that they can perform their duties appropriately. The Committee noted the information in the Government’s report according to which the Child Protection Service, within the police administration at the Ministry of the Interior and Local Development, is the body responsible for combating sexual exploitation. To this end, the Service is in charge of conducting investigations into crimes related to sexual exploitation at the national level, in coordination with the Monitoring Centre for Cybercrime and the Tunisian office of Interpol, and of taking adequate measures to identify the persons involved in crimes involving the exploitation of children in prostitution or pornography, as well as ensuring border security and prohibiting suspects from having access to Tunisian territory.

The Committee notes that the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in its concluding observations of 16 June 2010 (CRC/C/TUN/CO/3, paragraph 61), expresses concern at the sharp increase in the number of child victims of sexual abuse in Tunisia in 2008–09 and regrets that the data supplied are not specific or detailed, since this makes it impossible to assess the nature and extent of sexual the exploitation and abuse of children, including child prostitution and child pornography. However, the Committee notes that the Government does not supply any information on this matter in its report. The Committee therefore again urges the Government to provide information in its next report on the results achieved by the Child Protection Service, particularly in terms of the number of child victims of commercial sexual exploitation who have been detected.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (b). Assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the application of section 46 of the Child Protection Code by the child protection delegate (DPE), who is allowed to take emergency measures to remove a child who is in a situation of imminent danger from the family or institutional environment which is the cause of the danger. The Committee noted that 90 cases of children engaged in light work were examined by DPEs in 2005, representing 1.6 per cent of all cases of children under threat dealt with by DPEs in 2005. However, the Committee noted that the statistics are not concerned with the worst forms of child labour and asked the Government to provide more detailed information on the number of cases of children engaged in the worst forms of child labour dealt with by DPEs. The Committee noted the Government’s indication that the statistics provided by the DPEs make it impossible to distinguish which cases involve the worst forms of child labour. However, in the context of improving the system for data collection and processing relating to the work of the DPEs, the Ministry for Women, Families, Children and Senior Citizens was in the process of establishing a database which will provide more detailed information on all types of child labour. Noting the absence of information on this matter in the Government’s report, the Committee again urges the Government to provide more detailed information in its next report on the number of children engaged in the worst forms of child labour dealt with by DPEs.

Clause (d). Children at special risk. Domestic employees. The Committee notes that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, in its concluding observations of 5 November 2010 (CEDAW/C/TUN/CO/6, paragraph 48), expresses concern at the conclusions of a 2008 survey indicating that 17.5 per cent of domestic workers in Tunisia are between 12 and 17 years of age and 16 per cent are victims of sexual violence. The Committee therefore recommends the Government to take all necessary steps to protect domestic employees from economic exploitation and sexual violence. In view of the fact that children employed in domestic work are particularly exposed to the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to protect all girls under 18 years of age employed as domestic workers against the worst forms of child labour. It requests the Government to provide information on this matter and on the results achieved as regards identification, removal and reintegration of girls under 18 years of age who are employed as domestic workers and are victims of economic or sexual exploitation. Moreover, the Committee encourages the Government to ratify the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), which has key provisions for child protection.

Clause (e). Special situation of girls. The Committee previously noted that the Observatory for Information, Training, Documentation and Studies for the Protection of the Rights of the Child was due to undertake a study on the school drop-out rate of girls in rural areas, the main objective of which was to map school drop-outs in Tunisia according to the gender and environment of the child. It noted the Government’s indication that the study would be sent to the Office once it had been completed, and asked the Government to supply information on the use to which the study would be put in relation to preventing the engagement of girls in the worst forms of child labour.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, in order to improve the internal output of the education system and put the principle of equal opportunities for all pupils into practice, it is necessary to have accurate and detailed statistics that will make it possible to plan appropriate intervention strategies. It is in this context that the Observatory proposes to conduct the study on the school drop-out rate of girls in rural areas. Noting that the Government has already been referring to this for a number of years, the Committee urges the Government to take steps to ensure that the study on the school drop-out rate of girls in rural areas is completed as soon as possible. It also requests the Government to provide a copy of this study along with its next report.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee previously noted that the Observatory for Information, Training, Documentation and Studies for the Protection of the Rights of the Child established the “Child info” data collection system, thereby creating an integrated database on child-related matters. It also noted that a list of 70 child protection indicators had been validated by all the ministries concerned but that the data necessary for the preparation of these indicators is not regularly collected. The Government indicated that it was a question of moving on to the operational stage so that each department would establish the necessary data collection mechanisms, thereby allowing the validated indicators to be drawn up and follow-up to take place. The Government added that it would provide a copy of the list of child protection indicators to the Office once it had been adopted.

The Committee notes the Government’s statement that the child protection indicators cover the protection of health, school drop-outs, social protection and protection against threatening situations. The Government also indicates that the Observatory is currently setting up data collection systems at the local level with a view to using the adopted indicators in child protection. The Committee urges the Government to supply more detailed information on the data gathered by “Child-info” with respect to children engaged in the worst forms of child labour. All information provided should be disaggregated, as far as possible, by sex and age.