Over the next twelve
months, around 3,500 children under the
age of 15 will die as a result of physical
assault and neglect in the world’s
richest nations. In Germany and the United
Kingdom, two children die every week –
three in France. More than 1 million children
are trafficked across international borders
every year. Over 300 million children
in the world work – some of them
in hazardous conditions, some of them
forced. Street children fight for survival
daily on the streets of Europe and Central
Asia, exploited by criminals, dodging
the police. One out of every ten schoolchildren
faces violence at school – some
of it so traumatic that suicide seems
the only way out.
These figures from UNICEF,
the World Health Organization (WHO), the
International Labour Organization and
the United Nations show that the children
of our region are as vulnerable to violence
as any in the world. We can’t assume
that we are more developed or more civilized
– the figures show we are not. Behind
every case that hits the headlines and
shocks people’s hearts there are
thousands of children who simply become
statistics. Violence against children
is hidden and corrosive. It destroys lives
and potential and breeds societies that
accept the unacceptable – that children
can be punched, kicked, beaten, starved,
taunted and tortured.
Violence has so many
different faces, and can take place anywhere
children spend their time – in the
family, in the street, in schools, in
State care and custody. Anyone who comes
into direct contact with children is a
potential perpetrator – parent,
caregiver, relative, community member,
an other child, school teacher, police
officer. But no matter what the abuse
and where it takes place, the root causes
are often the same. The causes of violence
include:
Discrimination –
Whether it is for reasons of gender, ethnic
origin, religion, disability, disease
or sexual orientation, discrimination
legitimizes violent behaviour. Discrimination
in social, education or health services
can result in ethnic groups, such as Roma,
being socially excluded, increasing the
vulnerability of children to violence.
Social acceptance –
Countries across Europe and Central Asia
have different thresholds of acceptance
to violence. For instance, almost all
countries accept corporal punishment as
a means of disciplining children. These
attitudes reflect the way that people
react, both in their own behaviour and
in the low incidence of reports of violence.
Poverty and social stress
– Studies on child maltreatment
deaths within the family in rich nations
have found that poverty and stress, along
with drug and alcohol abuse seem to be
closely linked with child abuse and neglect.*
At its worst, poverty has proved an underlying
factor in various world conflicts that
have set communities against each other.
Yet the UN Convention
on the Rights of the Child guarantees
the physical integrity, safety and dignity
of children, and countries have laws to
stop violence…. don’t they?
Somewhere between theory
and practice something is missing. And
it’s time to find out and to act.
UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan has launched a project to put
an end to the violence. The first step
is to get a picture of exactly what is
happening, and he has appointed Professor
Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro to head a
global study on violence against children.
The study will map out what is happening
today in four different settings –
the school, the home, institutions and
the community. Information on each of
these appears in this pack – showing
what data we now have, what steps have
been taken to tackle the problems, and
what needs to be done in the future. Some
of the issues – such as bullying
and abuse – are already on the agenda
of many governments; others, such as harmful
traditional practices and violence in
institutions and youth training, are newer.
But one thing is common to all topics,
the lack of sound data. Facts and figures
on violence are hard to come by, but without
them, it is hard to find the appropriate
solutions to ensure that our actions are
really effective.
Nine regional consultations
will feed the Study, including the Europe
and Central Asia Consultation in Ljubljana,
Slovenia (5-7 July 2005). This Consultation
will bring together experts, academics,
practitioners and children to look at
what’s going wrong and to find a
way to begin to put it right. Their work
is a call to action – to break the
silence, mobilize, motivate and put in
place the political agenda which will
change the world for children today and
tomorrow – creating a world where
violence against children is no longer
tolerated.
*
Innocenti Report Card No. 5, A league
table of child maltreatment deaths in
rich nations, UNICEF Innocenti Research
Centre, September 2003.
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