We have to recognize the risks that internet’s criminal misuse poses

Published on Friday, 23 March 2018 15:03

Event on “Combating Online Sex Trafficking: confronting challenges, forging cooperation”.

Statement by Mr. François Delattre, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations - 14 March 2018

Photo by Permanent mission of France to the United Nations in New York

« Ladies and gentleman,

Thank you for your kind word of introduction. It is a great honor and pleasure to be here with you this evening to speak about a very important issue and a shared priority, combating online sex trafficking.

I would like to start by expressing my warmest thanks to all of you with a special word of appreciation to our partners and co-hosts for organizing this meeting. I would like to start with Yves Charpenel, President of the Scelles Foundation, who is a source of inspiration and admiration, with a special word also to Yves Scelles, the representative of the family here and vice-president of The Scelles Foundation – a foundation whose commitment to our common cause is truly exemplary. My warmest thanks also to Proskauer, our host tonight, it is very important to be with you and I also know your commitment to this fight. I also want to thank Sanctuary for Families and the Thomson Reuters Foundation. It is a great privilege to be part of this conversation, which has become one of our vital, crucial causes at the UN, where we have developed over the last year a strong French-American partnership at the Security Council and at the UN as a whole with my colleague Nikki Haley, including on this very cause. So these exchanges with representatives from civil society and the private sector are always extremely important and valuable. We, as France, want to remain at the forefront of the international efforts to fight against online sex trafficking.