ORAL STATEMENT
Humanists International
UN Human Rights Council, 58th session (24 February – 4 April 2025)
ID with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children
Mr President,
We thank the Special Representative for her report, in which she highlights some commendable initiatives by traditional and religious leaders in the fight to end violence against children – including child marriage and female genital mutilation.
Relatedly, we wondered whether the meeting mentioned with another religious leader, Pope Francis, revealed similarly positive initiatives? It is essential that the Holy See, particularly as an Observer State of the UN, is fully accountable when it comes to human rights obligations, including the rights of the child.
In its last report,[1] the Committee on the Rights of the Child found grave failings by the Holy See in terms of violence against the child, including torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, corporal punishment, and sexual abuse, by its clergy.[2]
At the same time, the Committee against Torture established that the Holy See had overseen violence against children, including through their sale and abduction by its clergy.[3] The CAT and CRC are both still awaiting overdue follow-up reports from the Holy See and indeed evidence that any remedial action has taken place.
In 2021, a group of UN experts expressed their “utmost concern about the numerous allegations around the world of sexual abuse and violence committed by members of the Catholic Church against children” and urged the Holy See to take all necessary measures to stop and prevent the reoccurrence of violence and sexual abuse against children in Catholic institutions, and to ensure those responsible are held to account and reparations are paid to victims.[4] Again, this has yet to happen.
Given her mandate, we ask: Would the Special Representative add her voice to these numerous calls for action?
Thank you.
Endnotes
[1] In 2014
[2] CRC/C/VAT/CO/2
[3] CAT/C/VAT/CO/1
[4] https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2021/06/un-experts-urge-catholic-church-act-against-sexual-abuse-provide-reparations, AL VAT 1/2021.
'The Holy See and Violence against Children', Humanists International