The motion was put forward by Slovenia in late 2011 at the proposal of the Association Against Sexual Abuse and won the support of a number of countries and NGOs, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

Children's rights are high on the Slovenian foreign policy agenda and the European day is "an important step in breaking the culture of silence on severe crimes against the inviolability of sexual integrity," the ministry said.

The objective of the European Day will be to raise awareness of such crimes, to promote the ratification and implementation of the Lanzarote Convention, and to prevent the stigmatisation of victims, according to the CoE.