violence against children in the community
DESCRIPTION
from the UN Report 2006, annotated with recent related eventsTRANSCRIPT
Violence Against Children in the Community
(From the UN Report on Violence Against Children 2006)
Discussion FlowHuman Rights Instruments
Background and Context
Nature and Extent of the Problem
Factors Contributing to Violence
Responses to VAC in the Community
Recommendations
HR Instrumentsimposed on States, and only States or their agents can commit human rights violations
State obligation for human rights violations is incurred if the State or its agents violate the terms of a treaty which the State has accepted.
State obligation is also incurred if the State fails to ensure children’s rights to protection against violence by permitting such violence, or failing to take appropriate measures, or to exercise due diligence to prevent, punish, investigate or redress the harm caused by the acts of individuals, groups or entities.
Background and Context
Poverty-stricken areas are settings for exposure to violence (i.e., lack of employment, poor standards of housing, over-crowding and low standards of education and social amenities)
Nature and Extent of the Problem
Physical violencehomicidenon-fatal physical violenceviolence within adolescent intimate and dating relationships)psychological effects of witnessing violence
Nature and Extent of the Problem
Sexual violence
coerced first sex
sexual violence by strangers in the community
Nature and Extent of the Problem
Issues of special concernChildren living on the streetsHIV and violence in the communitiesviolence by policeviolence by other authority figuresviolence against child refugees, returnees and internally displaced personstrafficking of children
Child Trafficking•Recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt, whether by force or not, by a third person or group•Asia has the highest number of child trafficking victims (ILO, 2005)•Philippines:
•RA 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 ; established the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT)•Bantay Bata 163•End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and the Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (IACAT)
Factors Contributing to Violence
Individual and family factors
individual factors and relationship factorsmay be identifiable by trained
professionals such as teachers, social workers or medical staff, but also by
members of the community
Factors Contributing to Violence
Situational FactorsFirearmsAlcoholPhysical EnvironmentGangsSituations of unrest or conflict
Children in Conflict Situations
children from the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)
o42.1% (822,634) of Palestinian children were living below the poverty nine out of 10 parents report symptomatic traumatic behaviour among at least one of their childrenoViolence at the hands of more than one perpetrator, more than one placeoIncreasing anger and aggression and among adults feeding into VAC resulting into violent behavior of children
Intervention: Safe areas for childrenoLocal partnershipsoParticipatory needs assessments and workshop involving childrenoSafe Play Areas
20 child-soldiers in ARMM get education benefits for ‘giving up arms’ (Inquirer Mindanao, 19 Nov 2011)
Factors Contributing to Violence
Societal FactorsUrbanisationPoverty, inequality and social inclusion
Cyber-Space and Cyber-Threats
Access to information is a child’s right; also allows exposure to violent, abusive and pornographic materialThreats of ICT
Cyber-bullyingSexual exploitation
Intervention needed: focus on preventionCampaigns for adults and parentsGreater attention to strong international and national standards, and greater cross-border cooperation in the implementation of these standards
Cyber-bullying in Filipino ChildrenEight out of 10 Filipino children (82 percent) access the Internet weekly while more than a third (37 percent) are daily Internet users. Seventy-three percent of Filipino teens have online social profiles as of 2010.
Gabrielle Molina
Responses to VAC in the Community
Individual and Family Levelfamily-oriented interventions to change parenting styles (increase predictability, parental monitoring, and decrease negative parenting methods) and improve relationships within the family (closeness, positive statements, emotional cohesion and communication clarity) show strong and consistent evidence for reducing the risk of children going on to engage in serious antisocial behaviour and violence
Responses to VAC in the Community
Community LevelCommunity-level support for education and socialisationReducing truancy and returning dropouts to schoolNon-formal learning opportunitiesCommunity-level situation preventionServices for victims of violence
The anti-child abuse poster [by Anar Foundation] that can only be seen by children
Responses to VAC in the Community
Societal LevelEconomic opportunity and equalityReducing access to alcohol and illegal drugsReducing access to and demand for weaponsReducing exposure to violence in the media
Children’s Participation at all levelsData collection and research
Recommendations (16)
Prioritize Prevention
High-risk individuals and familiesImmediate and environment risk factors in the communityVictim servicesSocietal levelBuild information systems
-END OF SLIDES-Class discussion led by Eden T. Gallardo