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Understanding and Preventing Violence against Children

This module focuses on recognizing different forms of violence against children, understanding their impact on children's welfare and development, and exploring measures to prevent and respond to violence. It also discusses the legal obligations of states and the role of the criminal justice system in protecting children.

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Understanding and Preventing Violence against Children

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  1. Module 12 Violence against Children

  2. Learning Outcomes • Recognise various forms of violence against children occurring in different contexts and appreciate the impact violence has on children, their welfare and development, and their rights; • Explain the legal obligations of States to protect children against all forms of violence and, to that end, the role of law enforcement and criminal justice institutions; • Describe the various measures that can be taken in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice to prevent and respond to violence against children; and • Formulate an informed opinion on how current measures to prevent violence against children could be improved

  3. The many forms of violence against children VAC is defined very broadly in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC, Art 19) to include “all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse”. Examples • abuse and neglect in the family, incest, sexual abuse, infanticide; • Corporal punishment, bullying and other forms of violence in school; • psychological aggression; • child trafficking, child labour, sale of children, child sexual exploitation and other commercial sexual exploitation of children; • various forms of cyber and online violence; • recruitment as child soldiers, children recruited and exploited by terrorist and violent extremist groups

  4. The Impact of Violence against Children • Violence, neglect, and trauma bear detrimental impact on a child’s development. Recent studies have also shown that violence and neglect can physiologically affect the development of a child’s brain (UNICEF, 2017). • Lifelong adverse health, social, and economic consequences exist for children affected by violence, including: • mental and physical health conditions; • increased health and other risk behaviours; • exposure to further violence; • disability from physical injury; • reduced health-related quality of life; lower educational attainment; and • lower levels of adult economic well-being.

  5. The graphic shown above was produced as a result of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, a large scale investigation of the associations between childhood maltreatment and later-life health and well-being in the United States (e.g., Felitti, V. J. et al., 1998). It illustrates the impact of child abuse and mistreatment on the future health and quality of life of the children.

  6. States Obligations to Prevent VAC and to Protect Child Victims • The right of children to be protected from all forms of violence is recognized by international and regional instruments: • Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), articles 19, 32 and 34, and reinforced by Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography • Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. • Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, which supplements the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, also affirms this right. • International Labour Conventions: • 138 (concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment), • 182 (concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, and • 189 (concerning decent work for domestic workers) protect children from work which has a negative impact upon their ability to reach their full potential. • United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples also refers States shall take measures, in conjunction with indigenous peoples, to ensure that indigenous women and children enjoy the full protection and guarantees against all forms of violence and discrimination (Art 22(2)).

  7. The Role of the Criminal Justice System in Preventing Violence against Children • the prohibition by law of all forms of VAC, including the criminalization of many serious forms of violence; • the development of effective and context specific violence prevention programmes; and, • challenging the ways in which VAC is condoned or tolerated. In fact, preventing violence against children requires a major shift in what societies regard as acceptable practice.

  8. The United Nations Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence Against Children in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice adopted by the General Assembly in 2014.

  9. Improving the Prevention of Violence Against Children • A comprehensive approach to preventing violence against children is required. • The criminal justice system can play a role but many other sectors must be involved (social welfare, health and education agencies, civil society organisations). • There is a general need to strengthen the existing child protection and justice system to help create a protective environment for children. Child protection agencies must be encouraged to work collaboratively with the criminal justice system. • Strategies are most effective when implemented as part of a comprehensive, multisectoral approach. • Stakeholders in many countries are working to eliminate violence against children, but their efforts are not always well coordinated and supported.

  10. Children must have a voice in the development of prevention strategies. The Committee on the Rights of the Child explains: "(…) the voices of children have increasingly become a powerful force in the prevention of child rights violations. Good practice examples are available, inter alia, in the fields of violence prevention in schools, combating child exploitation through hazardous and extensive labour, providing health services and education to street children, and in the juvenile justice system. Children should be consulted in the formulation of legislation and policy related to these and other problem areas and involved in the drafting, development and implementation of related plans and programmes” (Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2009, para 118).

  11. Improving the Criminal Justice Response to VAC • The criminal justice system is responsible for bringing perpetrators of VAC to justice, protecting child victims of violence, and working closely together with other systems (education, welfare, child protection, health). • Key responsibilities and proactive measures include: • Police have a responsibility to engage in proactive investigations of suspected violence against children whether an official complaint has been registered or not. • The primary responsibility for initiating investigations and prosecutions lies with the police, the prosecution and other competent authorities. • Sufficient resources must be allocated to these investigations and, therefore, the investigation and prosecution of violent crimes against children must formally and practically be identified as a system’s priority. • Officials who are responsible for an investigation must have the power and authority to obtain all the information necessary to successfully complete that investigation (United Nations, 2014, art.19 and 20; UNODC, 2015a; 2015b). • Guidance and training can be provided to front line police officers on how to recognize different forms of violence against children and how to identify signs that children may be at risk or victims of violence.

  12. Improving children’s access to justice Two questions should be asked when reviewing existing reporting mechanisms: • Are there safe, child-friendly and gender-sensitive procedures and mechanisms for victims and others to report or complain about incidents of violence against children? • Are these mechanisms easily accessible to all children and their representatives or a third party without fear of reprisal or discrimination?

  13. Ensuring the safety and dignity of children during investigation and prosecution of VAC The manner in which investigations and prosecutions are conducted is very important. The safety of the child is a primary consideration. The following are required to ensure that the investigation, including the collection of evidence, is conducted in a child-sensitive manner and respects children’s dignity and integrity. • specialised training for criminal justice professionals; • operational policies; • guidance tools; and • effective supervision

  14. Addressing Violence against Children in the Criminal Justice System The Model Strategies take into account the high risk faced by children in conflict with the law, especially those who are deprived of their liberty. Reporting obligations are among the relevant measures:

  15. Exercises Exercise 1: Data on VAC • Can you identify sources of data (using the internet or the library) on the incidence of violence against children in your country? Exercise 2: Violence in the schools. • What was your experience of violence in school/college/university? Exercise 3: Criminalization of VAC • Are there forms of violence against children that are not criminalized in your country? Exercise 4: Social tolerance of VAC • What evidence is there in your country that certain forms of violence against children are being tolerated?

  16. Exercises Exercise 5: Legal obligation to report incidents of VAC • Who in your country has a legal obligation to report incidents of violence against children? Exercise 6: Legal protection for individuals who report VAC • What protection does the law offer in your country to people who report in good faith incidents of VAC? Exercise 7: Improving current measures to prevent and respond to VAC • How can existing measures to prevent and respond to violence against children in our country be improved? Exercise 8: VAC against children in detention • Are children currently detained in your country at grave risk of violence and how can this risk be mitigated?

  17. Recommended Class Structure (3 Hours) • General introduction and presentation on the many forms of violence against children and their impact on children [Presentation: 15 minutes; questions/discussion 10 minutes] • In-class exercise: Exercise 1 [20 minutes],or “School Violence Awareness Video” [8.20 minutes and discussion], or video of the National Institute of Mental Health (2013), “Bullying Exerts Psychiatric Effects Into Adulthood” [3.54 minutes] • States obligations to prevent VAC and protect child victims (focus on human rights standards and guidance available on best practices) and introduction to the Model Strategies. [Presentation: 15 minutes; questions/discussion: 10 minutes] • In-class exercise: Exercise 2 [20 minutes] • Improving the prevention of VAC [Presentation: 15 minutes; questions: 10 minutes] • In-class exercise: Any of the exercises 3 to 6 [25 minutes].The research-based exercise requires students to prepare in advance. • In-class exercise: Exercise 7 [35 minutes] • Conclusion [5 minutes]

  18. More information @DohaDeclaration e4j@unodc.org unodc.org/dohadeclaration unodc.org/e4J

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