Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography

Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography

State parties   States that have signed, but not ratified   States that have not signed
Signed	25 May 2000[1]
Location	New York[1]
Effective	18 January 2002[1]
Condition	10 ratifications[1]
Signatories	121[1]
Parties	178[1]
Depositary	UN Secretary-General[2]
Languages	Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian & Spanish[2]

The Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography is a protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and requires parties to prohibit the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

The Protocol was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2000^[2] and entered into force on 18 January 2002.^[1] As of April 2024, 178 states are party to the protocol.^[3]

According to the preamble, the protocol is intended to achieve the purposes of certain articles in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, where the rights are defined with the provision that parties should take "appropriate measures" to protect them. Article 1 of the protocol requires parties to protect the rights and interests of child victims of trafficking, child prostitution and child pornography, child labour and especially the worst forms of child labour.

The remaining articles in the protocol outline the standards for international law enforcement covering diverse issues such as jurisdictional factors, extradition, mutual assistance in investigations, criminal or extradition proceedings and seizure and confiscation of assets as well.

It also obliges parties to pass laws within their own territories against these practices "punishable by appropriate penalties that take into account their grave nature."