'International Criminalisation and Child Welfare Protection': the optional protocol to the convention on the rights of the child

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography has two overall aims: (i) to strengthen international criminalisation and (ii) to provide welfare protection for child victims. This article reviews the context of the Protocol including the work of the Special Rapporteur. It examines reservations and declarations made by states upon ratification and provides a preliminary analysis of country reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. It concludes that while the Protocol may have assisted in the process of international criminalisation, its implementation appears to have had a weaker impact on the protection of child victims. (c) 2008 The Author(s). Journal compilation (c) 2008 National Children's Bureau.