Press
release
Press release WHO EURO/04/05
Copenhagen
and Geneva
, 15 March 2005
“Home
sweet home” – a myth for many children?
United Nations campaign
“Stop Violence Against Children. Act Now”
launched today in Europe
Family violence claims the
lives of four children under the age of fourteen
each day in the European Region – over
1300 every year – according to World Health
Organization (WHO) data. And this is only the
tip of the iceberg, with many thousands more
enduring years of violence and abuse for every
child that dies.
“For the survivors, the
impact lasts a lifetime,” says Dr Marc
Danzon, WHO Regional Director for Europe. “Data
confirm that abused children pay a long-term
price as they are more likely to take dangerous
risks in their own lives. This adds to the price
our whole society pays with suicides, depression,
drug and alcohol abuse, delinquency, and domestic
violence”.
This evidence is a prelude
to the “Stop Violence Against Children.
Act Now” regional consultation for Europe
and central Asia, to be held in Ljubljana, Slovenia,
5–7 July 2005, hosted by the Government
of Slovenia (http://www.act-now.si).
The consultation will tap into the expertise
of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF), WHO, and the
Council of Europe, while maximizing input from
civil society – including children themselves.
It will also feed into next year’s study
on violence against children, led by United
Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, to wipe
out violence and abuse against children.
The United Nations s tudy
on violence against children (http://www.violencestudy.org/r25)
will look at the different settings in which
children experience violence, including the
home. The place where they spend up to 90% of
their time – the place where they should
be safest – is for too many the most dangerous
of all. A UNICEF youth poll in 2001 found that
60% of children in Europe and central Asia say
they face violent or aggressive behaviour at
home from parents and caregivers.
“The cosy assumption
that children are always safe and protected
in their own homes is called into question by
the evidence,” said Maria Calivis, UNICEF
Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe
, the Commonwealth of Independent States and
the Baltics States . “The s tudy on violence
against children challenges us to get a true
picture of the scale of the problem but it also
presents us with a powerful opportunity to address
it. How can we support families in stress and
prevent violence in the first place? And how
can society create an environment that protects
children? These are questions we want to answer.”
The consultation will be a
key opportunity to answer these questions and
to monitor children’s views and perceptions
of their experience, which is the voice of their
suffering.
Facts and figures
Accurate and meaningful data
on child abuse are hard to come by. Different
cultures have different attitudes about what
is, and what is not, acceptable parenting practice.
Official statistics rarely reveal a great deal
about patterns of child abuse. The situation
is further complicated by differing legal and
cultural definitions of abuse and neglect between
countries. What is clear is that there is absolute
agreement across all cultures that child abuse
is unacceptable.
The death toll of young lives
in Europe is part of a global problem that –
according to the 2002 WHO World report on
violence and health – claims about
57 000 victims a year.
In the European Region, WHO
records that four children aged 0–14-years-old
are killed every day, or over 1300 every year,
as a result of homicides or assaults.
There are large differences
between countries in the Region: child mortality
from homicide is nearly three times higher in
the Commonwealth of Independent States than
it is in the European Union.
According to the UNICEF Innocenti
Research Centre, a small group of countries
appear to have an exceptionally low incidence
of child deaths from maltreatment, while others
show levels that are four to six times higher.
Recent research published
by the Council of Europe shows that the vast
majority of children throughout Europe have
experienced some form of corporal punishment.
European infants and young
children are most likely to be abused in the
home environment. According to a WHO survey,
this is the place where they spend up to 90%
of their time.
60% of children in Europe
and central Asia say they face violent or aggressive
behaviour at home from parents and caregivers,
according to a UNICEF youth poll in 2001.
Drug and alcohol abuse are
among the most common and serious family problems
contributing to violence against children in
the home.
Estimates from industrialized
countries suggest that between 40% and 70% of
men who use physical violence against their
partners also use violence against their children,
and that about half of the women who are physically
abused also abuse their children.
The good news is that child
deaths from maltreatment appear to be declining
in the great majority of industrialized countries.
The solutions
The study will recall that
all countries must enact or repeal their legislation
as necessary in order to prohibit all forms
of violence, however slight, within the family.
The different patterns of family abuse must
be addressed. And concrete interventions must
be made for different groups of children according
to their age, their vulnerability, and their
evolving capacities as subjects of human rights.
Recent high-profile tragedies
involving the fatal abuse of children by parents
and caregivers in Europe have highlighted the
need for early detection and an integrated approach
by different sectors such as social services,
health workers, schools and the police, to prevent
child abuse in the so-called “privacy”
of home and family. Cases such as the deaths
of Victoria Climbie in the United Kingdom and
of two children in France might have been averted
had there been good communication and integration
among these different sectors.
The World report on violence
and health outlines some effective solutions
to combat child abuse and neglect, including:
training in parenting –
providing parents with information about child
development, and teaching them to use consistent
child-rearing methods and how to manage family
conflict; and
home visiting programmes –
involving regular visits from a nurse or other
health professional to the homes of families
in special need of support with childcare or
where there is an identified risk of child maltreatment.
NOTE TO EDITORS
The United Nations Secretary-General
has appointed an independent expert, Paulo Sérgio
Pinheiro, to lead a global study on violence
against children. The study, rooted in children’s
right to protection from all forms of violence,
aims to promote action to prevent and eliminate
violence against children at international,
regional, national and local levels. The study
is a United Nations-led collaboration, mandated
by the General Assembly, to draw together existing
research and relevant information about the
forms, causes and impact of violence affecting
children and young people (up to the age of
18 years). A major report will be published
in 2006 and recommendations presented to the
United Nations General Assembly.
Nine regional consultations
will pull together regional information on violence
against children in four settings: the home,
the community, the school and state institutions.
These will articulate the agenda for action
and contribute recommendations to the study.
The r egional consultation for Europe and central
Asia will take place in Ljubljana , Slovenia
, 5–7 July 2005, and will be hosted by
the Government of Slovenia.
For more information,
contact:
WHO
Cristiana Salvi
Technical Officer for Communication
and Advocacy
WHO Regional Office for Europe
European Centre for Environment
and Health
Rome , Italy
Tel.: +39 06 4877543. Fax:
+39 06 4877599. Mobile : +39 348 0192305
E-mail:
csa@ecr.euro.who.int
Web site: http://www.euro.who.int
or http://www.euro.who.int/violenceinjury
UNICEF
Lynn Geldof
Regional Communication Adviser
UNICEF Regional Office for
CEE/CIS & Baltics
Geneva, Switzerland
Tel.: +41 22 909 5429. Mobile:
+41 79 431 1537
E-mail: lgeldof@unicef.org
Web site :
http://www.unicef.org/ceecis or
http://www.unicef.org/ceecis/media_1223.html
Angela Hawke
Communication Officer
UNICEF Regional Office for
CEE/CIS & Baltics
Geneva, Switzerland
Tel.: +41 22 909 5433. Mobile:
+41 79 601 9917
E-mail: ahawke@unicef.org
Soraya Bermejo
Communication Officer
UNICEF Regional Office for
CEE/CIS & Baltics
Geneva, Switzerland
Tel.: +41 22 909 5706. Mobile:
+41 79 459 2516
E-mail: sbermejo@unicef.org
OHCHR
José Luis Díaz
Press Officer
Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights
Geneva , Switzerland
Tel.: +41 22 917 9242
E-mail: jdiaz@ohchr.org
Web site: http://www.ohchr.org/english/
Council of
Europe
Cathie Burton
Press Officer
Council of Europe
Strasbourg , France
Tel.: +33 3 88 41 28 93. Mobile:
+33 685 11 64 93
E-mail: cathie.burton@coe.int
Web site:
http://www.coe.int
Government of
Slovenia
Lea Javornik Novak
Ministry of Labour, Family
and Social Affairs
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Tel.: +381 1 23 91 700
E-mail:
lea.javornik-novak@gov.si
Web site: http://www.gov.si
NGO Advisory Panel
Web site: http://www.childrenandviolence.org
Press release: Word
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