CHILDRENAND VIOLENCE

innocenti digest United Nations Children's FundInternational Child Development Centre

Florence - Italy

INTRODUCTION 2

THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD AND VIOLENCE 3

Protecting children from violence 3

Responding to violence by children 3

PREVALENCE OF VIOLENCE TO CHILDREN 4

INTRAFAMILIAL VIOLENCE TO CHILDREN 5

Infanticide and homicide of children 5

Physical assault 6

Sexual abuse 7

Illicit transfer 8

Traditional practices involving violence 8

Mental violence 8

EXTRAFAMILIAL VIOLENCE 9

Children and armed conflict 9

Homicide of street children 9

Violence in institutions 10

Sexual exploitation 10

Sport and violence 11

PREVALENCE OF VIOLENCE BY CHILDREN 14

Violent crimes 14

Children’s self-inflicted violence 14

WHY DO CHILDREN BECOME VIOLENT? 15

The cycle of violence 15

Violent images 16

No. 2

▼MAIN ISSUES

DISCUSSION SITE

➣ Combating violenceinvolving children

LINKS

➣ Contact and programme details of NGOs working in areas related to children and violence

INFORMATION SOURCES

➣ Selected readings➣ General references

PAST AND FUTURE ISSUES

➣ Ordering information➣ Feedback

The Innocenti Digest is compiled by UNICEF International Child Development Centre to provide reliable and easilyaccessed information on a critical children’s rights concern. It is designed as a working tool for executive decision-makers, programme managers and other practitioners in child-related fields.

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hildren and Violence

The issues

In the case of many categories of violenceto children, greater sensitivity is leading togreater visibility – a prelude, it is hoped, toeffective prevention. Available research fromdifferent countries suggests that, at least out-side active war zones, children are most at riskof violence, including sexual violence, withintheir own homes and from the adults closest tothem. But generally attempts to document theoverall extent of violence to children are intheir infancy, a reflection of the low status ofchildren, and the low political priorityaccorded to them – and perhaps more immedi-ately a reflection of the individual and collect-ive guilt of adult perpetrators of violence tochildren.

It is only in the last few decades that theprevalence of deliberate physical and mentalviolence to children by parents and other carershas begun to be widely acknowledged. Evenmore recently there has been the ‘discovery’ ofwidespread sexual abuse of children in the fam-ily and in institutions, and also organized sex-ual abuse, including child prostitution, ‘sextourism’, child pornography and other forms ofsexual exploitation.

With increased visibility of violencedirected at children comes the realization thatchildren are far more prone to violent victim-ization than adults:

The history of childhood is a nightmare fromwhich we have only recently begun to awaken.

2

INTRODUCTION▼

Violence and children defined

For the purpose of this Digest, violence is defined as deliberate behaviour by people againstpeople liable to cause physical or psychological harm, borrowing and adapting a definition usedby various national commissions set up to consider violence and its prevention. The definitioncould, of course, range wider to include societal forms of violence – the effects of poverty,exploitative child labour, and lack of adequate health care and education, and non-deliberateneglect by the state, parents and others. But the focus here is on interpersonal violence toand by children. Sexual abuse and exploitation are included because, although (as defined inmost countries) they do not necessarily involve violence or coercion, the vast majority ofevidence indicates their generally harmful effects. Children’s involvement in armed conflictand its effects on them also have strong links to the forms of violence considered here.

The focus is not simply on the widely used term ‘child abuse’, because its definition inpolicy and practice differs so greatly from country to country, culture to culture. Many formsof violence that are harmful to children lie outside common definitions of child abuse. TheConvention on the Rights of the Child, on the other hand, now almost universally ratified,emphasizes all children’s right to physical integrity – to protection from “all forms of physicalor mental violence”.

A ‘child’ is defined, as in the Convention, as everyone from birth to his or her 18thbirthday.

The further back in history one goes, the lowerthe level of child care, and the more likely chil-dren are to be killed, abandoned, beaten, terror-ized and sexually abused. . . . That this patternhas not been previously noted by historians isbecause serious history has long been considereda record of public not private events. 49

The dependent status of children, and tradi-tional assumptions of parents’ and other adults’authority over them, has made them particu-larly frequent subjects of violence – just as tra-ditional assumptions of male authority havebred violence to women. Institutionalization ofchildren in schools and child care institutions,ostensibly to provide ‘care’, has often involvedrepressive, authoritarian regimes in which vio-lence is endemic, and in which adult violenceto children may cause and be compounded bychildren’s violence to other children. In addi-tion, traditional assumptions about the unreli-ability of children as witnesses have frequentlyled to their complaints or requests for helpbeing disbelieved or ignored; these assumptionscontinue to inhibit formal interventions,including prosecutions.

Greater recognition of the scale of vio-lence to children, and increasingly active andconsistent challenging of it, follows on fromsocieties’ recognition of and responses to vio-lence to women. It is a sad reflection onhuman civilizations that the smallest and mostvulnerable of people should have had to waituntil last for consistent social and legal recog-nition of their equal right to physical and per-sonal integrity, to protection from all forms ofinterpersonal violence. Only a handful ofcountries have as yet adopted laws to givechildren the same protection that adults enjoyfrom physical assault. In most states violentpunishments, including beatings with tools,remain common and sanctioned by the law.Nevertheless, there is now growing recog-nition that asserting children’s right to protec-tion from ‘routine’ physical violence in thehome and in institutions is as vital to improv-ing their status as it has been to women’s sta-tus to assert their equal right to protectionfrom routine violence in the home and the com-munity. Leading this trend is the Committee onthe Rights of the Child, the international moni-toring body for the Convention, which hasconsistently challenged laws that permit any

Violence involving children – violencedirected at children and violence bychildren – is causing increasing con-cern in many if not all countries of theworld. The intense media spotlight,often on particularly horrific indi-vidual cases of violence involvingchildren, suggests – not necessarilyaccurately – greater prevalence. In thevaried arenas of armed conflictaround the world, children are partic-ularly vulnerable to the increased tar-geting of civilian populations, oftenwith lethal modern weapons.

As in all other areas of child policy, the1989 United Nations Convention on theRights of the Child offers hope of acceleratingreform to protect children from all forms ofviolence. Almost all of the world’s children livein countries that have ratified the Convention.It asserts children’s rights to physical and per-sonal integrity, and States’ obligations to pro-tect them from “all forms of physical or mentalviolence”, from sexual and other forms ofexploitation and abduction, from the effects ofarmed conflict, and from inhuman or degradingtreatment or punishment. The Convention alsoprovides a framework of principles and stand-ards for violence reduction and prevention, andfor constructive, rehabilitative responses tochildren’s violent behaviour.

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physical punishment of children, recommend-ing clear legal reform and educational pro-grammes.

Alongside recognition of the prevalence ofviolence to children has come growing aware-ness, through research, of the dangers of it, andof the links between early experience of vio-lence, and violent and other antisocial behaviour

The issues

in childhood and later life. Violence to childrenis inextricably linked to violence by children,and to manifestations of adult violence. Nocountry can be complacent about any level ofviolence involving children. Insensitive and vio-lent treatment of children, like insensitive andviolent treatment of the environment, threatensnot just the quality of human lives today, but the

very survival of human societies in the future.Reducing violence to children has immensepotential for transforming societies for the bet-ter. As stated by the Australian NationalCommittee on Violence:

The greatest chance we have to prevent violence insociety is to raise children who reject violence as amethod of problem-solving, who believe in the rightof the individual to grow in a safe environment. 44

3

THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILDAND VIOLENCE

▼

The Convention on the Rights of theChild, adopted by the UnitedNations General Assembly in 1989and ratified as of August 1997 by allbut two of the world’s countries,provides clear principles and stan-dards for the protection of childrenfrom violence, and for the treatmentof child perpetrators of violence.

Protecting children from violenceThe preamble of the Convention asserts thatthe child, by reason of his or her physical andmental immaturity, “needs special safeguardsand care”. Article 19 obliges ratifying States to:

take all appropriate legislative, administrative,social and educational measures to protect thechild from all forms of physical or mental vio-lence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treat-ment, maltreatment or exploitation including sex-ual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legalguardian(s) or any other person who has thecare of the child. (para. 1)Other articles, which have been elevated by

the Committee on the Rights of the Child tothe status of “General Principles”, are also relev-ant to the issue of violence:● Article 2 of the Convention insists that all

rights within it must be available to all chil-dren without discrimination on any ground.Thus violence to children cannot be justified,as it often is at present, on grounds of tradi-tion, or culture, or religion;

● Article 3 requires that the best interests ofthe child must be a primary consideration inall actions concerning children;

● Article 6 upholds every child’s right to life,

and States’ duty to ensure survival and develop-ment to the maximum extent possible;● Article 12 underlines children’s right to express

their views and have them taken seriously.In addition, articles oblige States:● to take measures to abolish traditional prac-

tices prejudicial to the health of children(Article 24.3);

● to ensure that school discipline is adminis-tered “in a manner consistent with the child’shuman dignity and in conformity with theConvention” (Article 28.2);

● to protect children from sexual exploitation(Article 34);

● to protect children from abduction and toprevent sale and trafficking of children(Article 35);

● to protect children from all other harmfulforms of exploitation (Article 36);

● to protect children from “torture or othercruel, inhuman or degrading treatment orpunishment” (Article 37);

● to use all feasible methods to protect chil-dren affected by armed conflict (Article 38);

● to provide rehabilitative care for victims ofviolence (Article 39).

Responding to violence by childrenThe Convention also provides clear principlesand standards for responses to violence by chil-dren. Its “General Principles” are relevant to allaspects of society’s responses to violent behav-iour of children and young people. None con-flicts with other people’s rights to physical andpersonal integrity. The best interests of thechild should be a primary consideration

(Article 3); the child’s right to life and maximumdevelopment must be respected (Article 6); thechild’s views should be ascertained and takenseriously (Article 12). Restriction of liberty –whether in the penal system or in ‘welfare’ orother systems – should be used only as a lastresort and for the shortest appropriate time(Article 37).

Article 37 also sets out an absolute ban oncapital punishment and life imprisonment foroffences committed by under-18-year-olds,whereas Article 40 gives detailed standards fordeveloping a distinct system of juvenile justice(the subject of Innocenti Digest 3). Such a systemmust emphasize promotion of the child’s senseof dignity and worth, reinforce the child’srespect for the human rights and fundamentalfreedoms of others, and take into account thechild’s age and the desirability of promotingthe child’s reintegration and the child’s assum-ing a constructive role in society.

Three other United Nations instrumentsprovide even more detailed standards:● United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for

the Administration of Juvenile Justice (‘TheBeijing Rules’) 1985;

● United Nations Guidelines for thePrevention of Juvenile Delinquency (‘TheRiyadh Guidelines’) 1990;

● United Nations Rules for the Protection ofJuveniles Deprived of their Liberty 1990.The focus on the best interests of the child,

and on rehabilitation and public safety ratherthan retribution, is in society’s short- and long-term interests as well as children’s. There is noevidence that responses based on retributionare effective in reducing or preventing vio-lence. On the contrary, there is evidence from

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many countries that harsh and humiliatingpunishment is a significant factor in the devel-opment of violent attitudes and actions, andthat imprisoning children increases the likeli-hood of re-offending, and in particular of

4

The issues

In many countries, violence to childrenremains largely a hidden problem. Muchof it occurs within the privacy of thefamily, or the relative privacy of insti-tutions. Moreover, research into levelsof violence in the family and institu-tions has had a very uneven develop-ment.

In an international bibliography and litera-ture review on violence in the family, preparedby the United Nations Interregional Crime andJustice Research Institute in Rome, of the over1,500 entries covering the period 1985 to 1992,about 79 per cent were published in the UnitedStates; adding those published in the UnitedKingdom, Australia and Canada accounted forover 90 per cent of the bibliography. The execu-tive summary emphasizes that “very little isknown about family violence outside theWestern world”. 31

In addition to its unrepresentative nature,current research and information on childrenand violence is also flawed in that it generallyrelies on interviews with parents and othercaretakers. Consequently, even if undertaken inconditions of strict confidentiality, it is likely tounderestimate the true level of violence. Otherstudies interview adults about their childhoodexperiences. It is still uncommon for re-searchers to interview children themselves, inconfidence, about their experiences.

A rare large-scale attempt to ask childrendirectly about their violent experiences tookplace in Finland in 1990: about 9,000 15-year-olds in schools were invited to fill out adetailed questionnaire anonymously on, amongother things, their experiences of violence andtheir sexual experiences. 59 60

A national in-depth telephone survey of alarge representative sample of children aged10–16 years in the United States, reported in1994, found rates of violent victimization far

PREVALENCE OF VIOLENCE TO CHILDREN▼

exceeding those found in official governmentstatistics. The rate for rape was five times ashigh as official figures; a quarter of the childrenreported a completed victimization (excludingcorporal punishment) in the previous year, andmore than a third a completed or attemptedvictimization. Just less than a third of those vic-timized in the last year reported having suf-fered physical injuries as a result of theirassault. 11

It is also rare as yet to look comprehensivelyat all forms of violence to children. The twoprominent US commentators responsible forthis study suggest that

Although in recent years there has been a greatdeal of public and media attention to victimizedchildren, the concern has been largely frag-mented. Professionals have focused on specificforms of victimization, such as child abuse, sex-ual abuse, handgun violence, and kidnaping,mostly as separate problems. But the fragmenta-tion has inhibited a comprehensive perspective onthe overall victimization of children. Such acomprehensive perspective would emphasize betterthe true toll of violent victimization. For ex-ample, one reality, not widely appreciated,because of the fragmentation, is that children arefar more prone to victimization than adults. 12

In their attempt to provide a comprehensiveanalysis of violent victimization of US children,the authors defined three broad categories ofvictimization:● “extraordinary”, such as homicide, which

affects a very small group of children;● “acute”, such as physical abuse, which affects

a larger but still minority group of children;● “pandemic”, such as physical punishment and

assault by siblings, which affects most chil-dren.

They were able to provide national statistics forthe United States for the various types of vic-timization, arranged in increasing order of in-cidence, from 0.03 per 1,000 children (childvictims of homicide) to 800 per 1,000 (victimsof sibling assaults). The information came from

non-violent offenders becoming violent.Disregarding such international standards,

some countries are adopting increasingly puni-tive policies involving use of custody for evenvery young offenders and rigorous ‘boot camp’

regimes, despite research evidence favouringcommunity-based rehabilitative responses tocriminal behaviour.

agency records, and from self-reports or care-taker reports to large-scale national surveys. Inthe United Kingdom, similar efforts have beenmade to sketch as complete a picture as possi-ble of the incidence of violence to children.

Attempts to look at violent victimization ofchildren comprehensively, and to see all vio-lence to children as being part of a single con-tinuum, fit well with the framework of theConvention on the Rights of the Child. It ishoped that this kind of approach will developuniversally within the context of implementa-tion of the Convention. For the moment, it isimpossible to tell from available data in mostcountries whether violent victimization of chil-dren is increasing, or whether greater sensitiv-ity is leading to greater visibility. To take justone example, in South Africa 22,911 cases ofchild abuse were reported to the South AfricanPolice Service Child Protection Unit in 1994, a36 per cent increase on the figures for 1993.From 1993 to 1994, child rape cases increasedfrom 4,736 to 7,559 (by 62.7 per cent). But aWhite Paper drafted by the Department ofWelfare emphasized that the true extent ofchild abuse in South Africa is unknown becausethere is no centralized database or coordinatedreporting system in place. 57

In most countries there are some centrallycollected statistics from law enforcement bod-ies of investigations, prosecutions and convic-tions of adults for violent offences against chil-dren, including assault, cruelty (where it existsas a separate offence), rape and other sexualoffences. We know from those countries wherethere has been in-depth interview research thatthese figures represent only a tiny proportionof actual offences. Increasingly, as sensitivity toviolence involving children grows, many coun-tries have developed child protection systemsincluding obligations to report instances of, orsuspicions of, violence to children, and formalduties for investigation. These too will provide

Incidence of violence to children in the UK (per 1,000 children per year)

Source: Children and Violence, Report of the Commission on Children and Violence convened by the Gulbenkian Foundation,Gulbenkian Foundation, London, 1995.

statistics, but again with no clear relationshipto the true level of violence.

In a report calling for more consistentreporting and recording of physical violence tochildren, the World Health Organization com-mented that “conflicting definitions of childabuse and neglect, difficulties in identifyingcases of child abuse and neglect, and variationsin reporting requirements make cross-nationalcomparisons virtually impossible”. 4 WHO hastentatively sought some agreement on commondefinitions of physical violence to children,developing a protocol, which it hopes will beused in particular by health care workers to col-lect comparable statistics. 42

socially, above girls, unequal gender populationfigures indicate that it remains widespread.Government attempts to restrict populationgrowth, often without providing adequate andeffective family planning education and resources,provide another impetus for infanticide.

Traditional attitudes in societies in whichdisabled children, or children born on certaindays, bring shame to the family can encourage 5

The issues

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Homicide

Child abduction

Sexual assault

Emotional abuse

Sexual abuse

Bullying at school

Physical punishment

0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1,000

Physical abuse

Assault outside the home

Rate per 1,000 children per year

0.007

0.026

0.26

0.3

0.7

1

330

580

770

INTRAFAMILIAL VIOLENCE TO CHILDREN▼

systems as a lesser crime than murder, althoughit involves the intentional killing of a baby. Therationale is to provide a special defence formothers suffering psychological trauma as aresult of birth. However, in many of the samelegal systems, there are general recognizeddefences of ‘diminished responsibility’ tocharges of murder which could be applied inspecial cases. It therefore seems clear that theroots of the special status of this crime lie inregarding an infant’s life as of less worth thanthat of an older person.

Contrary to the usual assumption that infan-ticide is an Eastern rather than a Western prob-lem, Lloyd deMause in his classic History ofChildhood documents that infanticide of legiti-mate as well as ‘illegitimate’ children

was a regular practice of antiquity, that thekilling of legitimate children was only slowlyreduced during the Middle Ages (hence thegrossly unequal ratios of men to women in manysocieties) and that illegitimate children continuedto be regularly killed right up into the nineteenthcentury. . . . Even though Thomas Coramopened his foundling hospital in 1741 because hecouldn’t bear to see the dying babies lying in thegutters and rotting in the dung-heaps of London,by the 1890s dead babies were still a commonsight in London streets . . . 50

Infanticide has been practised as a brutalmethod of family planning, and in societies whereboy children are still valued, economically and

Violence in the family

“Although it may appear in different forms,and the level of people’s awareness of, andreaction to the phenomenon may vary, thegravity and extent of the problem [of familyviolence] is worldwide. The family is the pri-mary and most important social institution forthe upbringing, education and protection of itsmembers, but it can often become an arena forsuffering and violence. All over the worldwomen and children are murdered, mutilated,assaulted, battered or sold. Millions of humanbeings are suffering within their family ‘walls’,and the weakest members of society are themost vulnerable: ethnic minorities, refugees,migrant families, children and women in armedconflicts. They are most at risk and have theleast legal, economic and social protection.

“Data, information and knowledge of theproblem merely represent the tip of an iceberg, atip that is still considered by many as a ‘pri-vate’ domain.” 31

Children are most at risk where they

should be safest: within their families.

Children are in fact far more likely to

be murdered, physically assaulted,

sexually abused, abducted and sub-

jected to harmful traditional practices

and mental violence by family mem-

bers than by strangers. Extrafamilial

forms of violence such as armed conflict

and high levels of community violence

place dramatic stress on families – and

thus affect intrafamilial violence too.

Infanticide and homicide of childrenAn analysis of 285 homicides committed in theUnited Kingdom from 1989 to 1991 involvingvictims under the age of 18 years found just 13per cent had been killed by strangers; 60 percent were killed by parents. 56 Similar resultshave been reported in the United States and inAustralia. In countries where homicide statisticsare analysed according to age of victim, infantsand very young children are often found to bethe age group most at risk. In the UnitedKingdom, under-one-year-olds are four times aslikely to be victims of homicide as any otherage group – almost all killed by their parents.

Infanticide remains defined in many legal

nificant injuries, remains common and supportedby the law in family homes in almost all coun-tries of the world. In most countries, in fact,physical punishment of children is the only formof interpersonal violence sanctioned by the law,whereas even trivial assaults on adults are crimi-nalized. Where children have been interviewedabout violent assaults by adults and by otherchildren in their community, they report farhigher victimization rates than adults. This situa-tion is in stark contrast to the principles set outby the Convention on the Rights of the Child,which asserts in its preamble that the child, byreason of his or her physical and mental imma-turity, “needs special safeguards and care”.

Research from countries in all continents,as reported by Rädda Barnen andEPOCH–Worldwide, has found consistentlyhigh levels of violent punishment in the home. 33

In Barbados, a 1987 survey found 70 per cent ofrespondents “generally approving” of parentalphysical punishment; of these, 76 per centendorsed beating children with belts or straps.In India, a 1991 survey of university studentsfound 91 per cent of males and 86 per cent offemales had been physically punished in theirchildhoods. In Romania, a 1992 survey foundthat 84 per cent of a sample of parents regardedspanking as a normal method of child-rearing,and 96 per cent did not regard it as humiliating.In the United Kingdom, government-sponsoredresearch published in 1995 found that almostone in six children had experienced “severe”physical punishment; the large majority (91 percent) had been hit, 77 per cent in the last year.In the United States, a 1985 survey of 3,232families found that 89 per cent of the parentshad hit their three-year-old child during the

previous year, and that about a third of 15- to17-year-olds had been hit.

In a concluding statement to the GeneralDiscussion on Children’s Rights in the Family,organized by the Committee on the Rights ofthe Child as a contribution to the InternationalYear of the Family in October 1994, aCommittee member stated:

As for corporal punishment, few countries haveclear laws on this question. Certain States havetried to distinguish between the correction of chil-dren and excessive violence. In reality the divid-ing line between the two is artificial. It is veryeasy to pass from one stage to the other. It is alsoa question of principle. If it is not permissible tobeat an adult, why should it be permissible to doso to a child? One of the contributions of theConvention is to call attention to the contradic-tions in our attitudes and cultures. 61

The Committee has indicated that theConvention requires a review of legislation toensure that no level of violence to children iscondoned. In the official report of its seventhsession in November 1994, the Committeestated:

In the framework of its mandate, the Committeehas paid particular attention to the child’s rightto physical integrity. In the same spirit, it hasstressed that corporal punishment of children isincompatible with the Convention and has oftenproposed the revision of existing legislation, aswell as the development of awareness and educa-tional campaigns, to prevent child abuse and thephysical punishment of children.

The Official Report goes on to note that theCommittee’s concerns have been sharedrecently by various other United Nations en-tities. The Commission on Crime Preventionand Criminal Justice, for example, adopted aresolution in April 1994 specifically stressingthe importance of Article 19 of the

6

The issues

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Investigating child deaths: a preventive response

In several states of the USA, legislation sets out obligations to hold a formal inquiry into all‘unnatural’ deaths of children. For example, the South Carolina Child Fatality Review andPrevention Act creates a Department of Child Fatalities within the State Law EnforcementDivision, and a multidisciplinary State Child Fatality Advisory Committee. The Act states:

It is the policy of this State that■ Every child is entitled to live in safety and in health and to survive into adulthood;■ Responding to child death is a state and community responsibility;■ When a child dies, the response of the State and the community to the death must include an accurate

and complete determination of the cause of death, the provision of services to surviving family members,and the development and implementation of measures to prevent future deaths from similar causes.

The Act places a duty on coroners and medical examiners to notify the Departmentwithin 24 hours when a child dies as a result of violence, when unattended by a physicianor in any suspicious or unusual manner, or when the death is unexpected or unexplained.The results of investigation are reported to the Advisory Committee, whose purpose is tomake recommendations aimed at decreasing the number of preventable deaths.

infanticide. Similar pressures arise in societiesthat strongly disapprove of the children bornto very young mothers or to unmarried or inap-propriately matched couples.

The lack of efficient and comprehensivemethods for registering each and every birthleaves babies at risk of murder, abduction, sale ordisappearance in many countries: the process ofregistration, according the newborn baby an offi-cial status, is an essential method of protection.

Where research studies have looked indepth at a random sample of child deaths, theyinvariably find a number, beyond those alreadyformally recorded as homicide, in which vio-lence has played a significant part. A reflectionof the growing sensitivity of societies to vio-lence to children is the development of speciallegislation and procedures for investigatingchild deaths in detail and making formalreports, with the primary aim of prevention.

In one of the very few international attemptsto compare rates of violence to children acrosscountries and continents, WHO has collectedstatistics from more than 60 countries on homi-cide deaths and deaths from injury of undeter-mined origin in infants less than one year old.But, as mentioned earlier, WHO and othercommentators have emphasized the unreli-ability of such comparisons, owing to the varyingdefinitions and methods of reporting and thevery variable reliability in the collection andcentral collation of statistics. 4

Overall homicide rates vary remarkablyfrom country to country and provide one meas-ure of the level of serious violence in differentsocieties. For example, the US homicide ratefor certain age groups of young people as vic-tims far exceeded that in all countries studiedby WHO, with the exception of the Bahamasand Ecuador. Aggregating data for the period1987–1990, WHO statistics show that annualdeaths by homicide of people aged 15 to 24were 15.3 per 100,000 in the United States,compared with 0.9 per 100,000 in both theUnited Kingdom and the Netherlands, 0.7 inFrance, and 0.4 in Japan. Indeed, the UnitedStates has significantly higher rates for mostviolent crimes than almost all other industrial-ized nations. The more serious the crime, thegreater the difference between the US rate andthose of other developed nations. 34

Physical assaultHitting children as a form of discipline, evenbeating them with sticks and belts causing sig-

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Convention, and calling on States to take allpossible steps to eliminate violence againstchildren in accordance with the Convention. 62

In 1996, the European Human RightsCommission declared admissible an applicationby a 12-year-old boy and his natural father. Theboy had been repeatedly caned by his stepfather,but a prosecution had failed. The application,which is likely to be considered by the EuropeanCourt of Human Rights, alleged that domesticlegislation failed to protect the boy from in-human or degrading punishment or treatment, inbreach of Article 3 of the European Convention,as well as of other articles.

Laws that define arbitrary levels of ‘legal’ violence to childrenIn many countries, either criminal or civil (fam-ily) law, or both, includes specific confirmationof parents’ and some other carers’ rights to useviolent forms of punishment, often with the stip-ulation that such punishment must be “reason-able” or “moderate”, leaving individual adults,child protection workers and ultimately courts todetermine what constitutes “reasonable” violenceto children. The Committee on the Rights of theChild has singled out such legislation for par-ticular criticism. For example, when theCommittee examined Spain’s initial report, itexpressed “concern at the wording of Article 154of the Spanish Civil Code which provides thatparents ‘may administer punishment to theirchildren reasonably and in moderation’, whichmay be interpreted to allow for actions in con-tradiction with Article 19 of the Convention”. 63

Similarly the official report of theCommittee’s consideration of the UnitedKingdom’s initial report records a comment bythe Deputy Chair of the Committee:

It was the Committee’s experience that difficultiesarose whenever a ‘reasonable’ level of corporalpunishment was permitted under a State’s inter-nal law. To draw an analogy, no one wouldargue that a ‘reasonable’ level of wife-beatingshould be permitted. His conclusion was that theUnited Kingdom position represented a vestige ofthe outdated view that children were in a sensetheir parents’ chattels. In the Scandinaviancountries and Austria, stricter legislation hadresulted in fewer cases going to court than in theUnited Kingdom, rather than the reverse. . . .The notion of a permissible level of corporal pun-ishment was thus best avoided. 65

The Committee has on many occasions for-mally recommended that States prohibit, with-out ambiguity of any kind, all violent punish-ment in the family and in institutions, and it hasproposed the use of educational campaigns to 7

The issues

Implementing equal protection for children in Sweden

Children are entitled to care, security and a good upbringing. Children are to be treated with respect fortheir person and individuality and may not be subjected to corporal punishment or any other humiliatingtreatment. (Swedish Parenthood and Guardianship Code)

In 1979, Sweden became the first country to ban all physical punishment of children. Theemphatic aim of the new law was educational – not to prosecute more parents, or increasestate intervention in family life, but to change attitudes and practice and to make hittingchildren as unacceptable as hitting adults. As one Swedish Ministry of Justice official saidwhen explaining the new law, “By the prohibition of physical punishment, the legislatorwanted to show that a child is an independent individual who can command full respect forhis or her person, and who should thus have the same protection against physicalpunishment or violence as we adults see as being totally natural for ourselves.”

In a significant case in 1982, the European Human Rights Commission rejected anapplication by a group of Swedish parents who alleged that the 1979 ban on parentalphysical punishment breached their right to respect for family life. The Commissionconcluded, “The actual effects of the law are to encourage a positive review of thepunishment of children by their parents, to discourage abuse and to prevent excesses whichcould properly be described as violence against children.” 53

In 16 years there has only been one prosecution in Sweden for what might be regardedin other countries as ‘ordinary’ physical punishment: a father was given a small fine forspanking his 11-year-old son. Implementation of the law was accompanied by a large-scaleeducational campaign, building information about the new law and its purpose into theeducation system, and into all forms of parenting education and support.

In 1994, research commissioned by the Swedish Department of Health and Social Affairsfound just 11 per cent still approved of physical punishment, compared with 65 per cent afew decades ago. And only 1 per cent of a large sample of Swedish 15-year-olds reportedever having been hit with an implement (compared with up to 25 per cent of children insome age groups in the United Kingdom and other countries which so far have resisted legalreform against physical punishment). 36

of hierarchy or authoritarianism and introducingthe ideas of social and responsible commitmentwhich should characterize the position of theeducator vis-à-vis the learner”. 55

Sexual abuseSexual abuse of children, like other manifesta-tions of violence to children, is certainly notnew; its increased visibility in all societies mustbe welcomed as a move towards effective childprotection. It seems clear that, although it canoccur outside the family setting, most sexualabuse of children takes place in their ownhomes, by parents and other close relatives.

As with physical violence, recognition ofsexual violence to children follows recognitionof sexual violence to women. And in most casesthe perpetrators are men. In most societies, sex-ual interference or assault without consent orinvolving any form of coercion is now consis-tently prohibited, whatever the age or status ofthe participants. The last step in these reforms,whose purpose has been largely to outlaw sex-ual violence to women, tends to be the crimi-nalizing of rape within marriage, and this stephas still not been taken in all countries.

promote positive forms of discipline. Summingup this position, one Committee member isrecorded to have found that “few aspects ofthe law concerning children were so importantfor the children themselves. In countries wherelegislation clearly banned corporal punishment,it gave a message to the children. Prohibitionhad not resulted in a flood of complaints to thecourt but it had served to educate parents.” 64

Laws that prohibit all violence to childrenAlthough reforms are increasingly being con-sidered in countries in all continents in thelight of the Convention and the Committee onthe Rights of the Child’s recommendations, asyet only a handful of countries have prohibitedall violent and humiliating punishment of chil-dren (Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway,Austria and Cyprus). And in 1996, Italy’sSupreme Court in Rome declared unlawful anyuse of violence for educational purposes withinthe family or in schools, affirming that “the veryexpression correction of children, which expresses aview of child-rearing that is both culturallyanachronistic and historically outdated, shouldin fact be redefined, abolishing any connotation

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8

The issues

The definition of sexual abuse of children inmany societies covers any sexual activity withsomeone who is not legally competent to giveconsent, or has refused consent. Thus, a chargeof sexual abuse would apply even in cases whena person below the age of consent appears awilling or even an initiating partner. The defini-tion of criminal sexual activities also includessexual activities at any age with close adult fam-ily members – incest. The justification for theseprotective measures comes from the growingbody of evidence that such activity can causeboth physical injury to still-developing bodiesand serious psychological damage.

Illicit transferParental and other abduction of children, whenit occurs without the child’s informed consent,is certainly a form of violence. It is one that hasbecome more visible and, given modern meansof transportation, probably more prevalent. Inthe United States, detailed National IncidenceStudies of all abducted children were carriedout in 1988. These studies found 345,000 fam-ily abductions (where a family member took achild, or failed to return a child, in violation ofa custody agreement); between 3,200 and 4,600non-family abductions (force was used against87 per cent of the victims, involving a weaponin 75 per cent of cases); and 114,600 attemptednon-family abductions. 73 Recognition of itsprevalence, both within countries and acrossborders, has led to specific developments ininternational law, most notably the 1980 HagueConvention on the Civil Aspects ofInternational Child Abduction.

The Hague Convention is a global instru-ment. As of June 1997, 43 countries had ratifiedor acceded to the Convention, though there is asignificant absence of Middle Eastern and FarEastern countries. Its provisions, in brief, enablechildren under the age of 16 who had beenwrongfully removed or retained (that is, inbreach of someone’s rights of custody) betweentwo Hague Convention countries to be returnedpromptly to the place where they have habitualresidence, where a final decision as to theirfuture can be made. A court may refuse to orderthis if the child objects, or might be at grave riskof harm, or has been over a year in the new envi-ronment and is settled – but the court’s businessis not to investigate the merits of the disputeitself. In addition to the Hague Convention,there are various regional treaties with similaraims, such as the Inter-American Convention on

the International Return of Minors, and the 1980Council of Europe Convention on theRecognition and Enforcement of DecisionsConcerning Custody of Children.

The Convention on the Rights of the Childincludes two relevant articles challengingabduction: Article 11 requires measures “tocombat the illicit transfer and non-return ofchildren abroad”; Article 35 requires measures“to prevent the abduction of, the sale of or traf-fic in children for any purpose or in any form”.Both stress the importance of internationalcooperation in combating these practices.

Traditional practicesinvolving violenceIn many societies there are common traditionalpractices that involve degrees of physical and/ormental violence to children and that may be pre-judicial to children’s health. The Conventionclearly requires a review of such practices.However, reviewing practices that have culturalor religious roots, or both, and that may in them-selves contribute to the cultural identity of chil-dren and adults, sometimes on a nationwide basis,requires great sensitivity.

The specific reference to traditional practicescomes in Article 24.3, which obliges States to“take all effective and appropriate measures witha view to abolishing traditional practices prejudi-cial to the health of children”. During the draft-ing of the Convention, a deliberate decision wastaken not to single out any specific practice,given the wide range that can have harmfuleffects – son preference, female genital mutila-tion, early marriages and diet, among others. 71

Article 24.3 is significant because it is the veryfirst mention of the abolition of traditional prac-tices in a binding international instrument, and,contrary to what might have been expectedgiven the ‘delicate’ nature of the problem, noreservations have been made to this provision.Given the international consensus at governmentand international agency level, it is clear that,henceforth, the debate should not centre onwhether or not harmful traditional practices areto be abolished, but only on what constitute‘appropriate’ means of bringing this about.

Adults often seek to justify traditional prac-tices on the grounds of cultural identity and/orreligious practice (but within all religions thereare now authoritative challenges to the neces-sity, and morality, of such practices). The healthrisks of practices that involve some invasion ofthe child’s bodily integrity – including for

example the very widespread practice of malecircumcision – may be increased by their per-formance by people with no medical training,and in unhygienic conditions. The lack ofappropriate anaesthesia intensifies the sufferingof children.

Justifications that assume that children shouldfollow the culture or religion of their familiesand/or communities challenge the Convention’supholding of children’s own freedom of religion(Article 14). These practices often take placewhen the child is very young and unable to con-sent. Mature children, of course, should have thesame rights, if any, as adults have under the law ineach society to consent to practices that involve adegree of violence but are not significantly preju-dicial to health. But parents’ responsibility to pro-vide appropriate direction and guidance to chil-dren in the exercise of their rights (referred togenerally in Article 5, and specifically in relationto freedom of religion in Article 14) must notinvolve breaches of Article 19 and/or Article 24.3.These provisions, read in conjunction with thenon-discrimination principle in Article 2, and thebest interests principle in Article 3, are unequi-vocal. The Convention does for protection ofchildren what other United Nations instrumentshave done for the protection of women fromharmful traditional practices.

Practices that should be reviewed in thelight of the Convention’s principles include:● all forms of circumcision and genital muti-

lation;● binding, scarring, burning, branding, coin-

rubbing, tattooing;● initiation ceremonies involving, for example,

forced holding under water;● deliberate discriminatory treatment of children

involving violence and/or prejudicial to health– for instance, preferential feeding and care ofmale children and lack of care of disabled chil-dren or children born on certain days.Measures to combat harmful traditional prac-

tices promoted by the Committee on the Rightsof the Child include legislation and education.Many States now have explicit bans on femalegenital mutilation, but it is clear that legal reformwill achieve little unless it is combined withwidespread education and awareness-raising, andunequivocal statements condemning the practiceby community and religious leaders.

Mental violenceChildren, especially dependent children, areparticularly vulnerable to forms of mental vio-

Direct and indirect effects of armed conflict on children: Highlights of the Graça Machel Study

Armed conflict affects all aspects of child development – physical, mental and emotional:Health and psychosocial well-being: “Thousands of children are killed every year as a directresult of fighting, from knife wounds, bullets, bombs and landmines, but many more die frommalnutrition and disease caused or increased by armed conflicts. The interruption of foodsupplies, the destruction of food crops and agricultural infrastructures, the disintegration offamilies and communities, the displacement of populations, the destruction of health servicesand programmes and of water and sanitation systems all take a heavy toll on children. Many dieas a direct result of diminished food intake that causes acute and severe malnutrition, whileothers, compromised by malnutrition, become unable to resist common childhood diseases andinfections.” (para. 137)Refugees and internally displaced children: Of the estimated 27.4 million refugeesworldwide and the 30 million displaced people, at least half are children. “At a crucial andvulnerable time in their lives, they have been brutally uprooted and exposed to danger andinsecurity. In the course of displacement, millions of children have been separated from theirfamilies, physically abused, exploited and abducted into military groups, or they have perishedfrom hunger and disease.” (para. 66)Sexual exploitation and gender-based violence: “Rape poses a continual threat towomen and girls during armed conflict, as do other forms of gender-based violence includingprostitution, sexual humiliation and mutilation, trafficking and domestic violence. While abusessuch as murder and torture have long been denounced as war crimes, rape has beendownplayed as an unfortunate but inevitable side effect of war.” (para. 91)Landmines and unexploded ordnance: “Anti-personnel mines are designed not to kill, butto maim, yet even the smallest mine explosion can be lethal for a child. . . . For the childrenwho survive, the medical problems related to amputation are often severe, as the limb of agrowing child grows faster than the surrounding tissue and requires repeated amputation.”(para. 116)Child soldiers: “The progressive involvement of youth in acts of extreme violence desensitizesthem to suffering. In a number of cases, young people have been deliberately exposed tohorrific scenes. Such experience makes children more likely to commit violent acts themselvesand may contribute to a break with society. In many countries, including Afghanistan,Mozambique, Colombia and Nicaragua, children have even been forced to commit atrocitiesagainst their own families or communities.” (para. 48) “Child soldiers may find it difficult todisengage from the idea that violence is a legitimate means of achieving one’s aims. Even wherethe experience of participating in ‘the cause’ has been positive, the transition to a non-violentlifestyle will be difficult.” (para. 57)

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lence by parents and others – ranging from ver-bal abuse, sarcasm and belittling, through formsof humiliation, harassment and isolation notinvolving physical violence. The Conventionuses the term “mental violence” in Article 19;

9

The issues

EXTRAFAMILIAL VIOLENCE▼

Extrafamilial violence is experiencedmost dramatically by children caughtup in armed conflicts and by chil-dren living on the streets in poorurban areas. Other forms of extra-familial violence to children involvethe ‘legalized’ use (or continued usedespite prohibition) of violentand/or humiliating discipline ortreatment in institutions, sexualexploitation, child pornography andphysical violence in sport.

Children and armed conflictThe introduction to the United Nations studyof the impact of armed conflict on children, ledby Graça Machel, emphasizes that millions ofchildren are caught up in conflicts in whichthey are “not merely bystanders, but deliberatetargets”. They are “slaughtered, raped, andmaimed . . . exploited as soldiers . . . starvedand exposed to extreme brutality”. Because ofthe length of recent conflicts, many childrenhave lived in the midst of “unregulated terrorand violence” their entire lives, experiencing“multiple and accumulative assaults”.22

The study, presented to the United NationsGeneral Assembly in 1996, estimates that in thepast decade two million children have beenkilled in armed conflict. Three times as manyhave been seriously injured or permanently dis-abled, many by landmines – children in at least68 countries live amid the contamination ofmore than 110 million landmines. Countlessothers have been forced to witness horrifyingacts of violence – for example, a UNICEF surveyof more than 3,000 children in Rwanda in 1995found that over 80 per cent had lost immediatefamily members, and more than one third ofthese had actually witnessed their murder. Thestudy estimates that over recent decades the pro-portion of war victims who are civilians has leapt

the effects on the child might better be termedpsychological. Article 19 also implies, in thewording “all forms of physical or mental vio-lence”, the need to consider not only the directbut also the indirect effects of family violence

on children. Research into violence within thefamily has highlighted the potentially adversepsychological effects on children of witnessingor hearing violence – both physical and mental– between their parents.

The study provides a detailed analysis of thedirect and indirect effects of armed conflict onchildren, and makes detailed recommendationsfor the world community: “Children are bothour reason to struggle to eliminate the worstaspects of warfare, and our best hope for suc-ceeding at it.” 23

from 5 per cent to more than 90 per cent, withwomen and children particularly targeted.Involving children as soldiers has been madeeasier by the proliferation of inexpensive lightweapons – guns so light that children can usethem and so simple that even a child as young asten can strip and reassemble them.

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sized that Article 28.2 of the Convention onthe Rights of the Child, concerning school dis-cipline, includes conformity with Article 19,and the protection of children from “all formsof physical or mental violence”. Physical pun-ishment, and other humiliating punishmentsamounting to mental violence, are thus out-lawed. Wherever the reporting process underthe Convention has revealed the continuedexistence of school corporal punishment, theCommittee has proposed its abolition. It hasalready been outlawed throughout Europe,with the sole exception of private schools inthe United Kingdom. It is prohibited in someother countries in all continents, including forexample China, Burkina Faso and Botswana,New Zealand, and half of the US states.

The European Court of Human Rights inStrasbourg and the Human Rights Committeehave also condemned the use of corporal punish-ment. The European Court ruled in 1978 thatjudicial birching of a juvenile (in the Isle of Man)breached Article 3 of the European Convention,which bars “inhuman or degrading treatment orpunishment”. Commission decisions on applica-tions made by UK schoolchildren and their par-ents on school corporal punishment led to aboli-tion in all state-supported education in 1987.During the 1990s, constitutional courts orsupreme courts in many countries also censuredcorporal punishment, including recently those inNamibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Sri Lanka.In South Africa until 1993, up to 30,000 youngoffenders were whipped each year. But in June1995, the new Constitutional Court declaredwhipping unconstitutional, and the Governmenthas prohibited physical punishment in the penalsystem and all schools.

Sexual exploitationUnder the Convention, Article 19 requiresaction to protect children from “all forms of . . .maltreatment or exploitation, including sexualabuse”. This is expanded in Article 34, whichrequires States Parties to “undertake to protectthe child from all forms of sexual exploitationand sexual abuse”. Article 34 emphasizes theinternational nature of certain kinds of sexualexploitation of children, requiring States totake all appropriate

national, bilateral and multilateral measures toprevent:(a) the inducement or coercion of a child to

engage in any unlawful sexual activity;(b) the exploitative use of children in prostitution

or other unlawful sexual practices;10

The issues

Homicide of street childrenGenerally, as discussed earlier, murder of chil-dren by parents is much more common thanmurder of children by strangers. But in certaincountries, children – in particular children livingand/or working on the streets of large cities –have been murdered or victimized by both crimi-nal gangs and by official law enforcement agen-cies. The UNICEF Regional Office for LatinAmerica and the Caribbean, drawing on variousofficial inquiries, has provided the followinginformation on the homicide of street children:

A UNICEF-financed study of homicides ofchildren and adolescents in four Colombiancities found 1,678 victims during the first sixmonths of 1994. This suggests a total annualfigure for the whole of Colombia of not lessthan 4,000. Information on those responsiblefor homicides is negligible, but the study indi-cates cases in which responsibility has beenpinned on popular militias, juvenile gangs,organized criminal groups, the National Police,and groups dedicated to ‘social cleansing’.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child,when examining Colombia’s initial report underthe Convention, expressed grave concern about“the life-threatening situation faced by analarming number of children in Colombia, par-ticularly those who, in order to survive, areworking and/or living on the streets. Many ofthose children are subject to arbitrary arrest andtorture and other inhuman or degrading treat-ment by authorities. They are also subject tocoercion, disappearance, trafficking and murderby criminal groups.” 66

The homicide of children and adolescents inBrazil has received international attention. TheBrazilian Federal Police registered a total of4,611 homicides of children and adolescentsover a period of three years (1988–1990), mostof them boys between 15 and 17, of whom 82per cent were black. According to UNICEF,contrary to popular belief many of the victimsof homicide were not children living and/orworking on the streets, nor criminals or gangmembers, but simply poor youth. A studyissued by three independent Brazilian organiza-tions found that 38 per cent of the victims hada permanent address, and many of them livedwith their families; of 457 victims studied, only13 were identified as drug dealers.

A study by the Public Ministry and UNICEFon homicides of children and adolescents inSão Paulo indicated that individuals and/or‘extermination groups’ are responsible for most

of the homicides. A special commission of theBrazilian Federal Parliament assigned to investi-gate the killings of children and adolescentsconcluded that the involvement of state agents,especially the civil and military police, in deathsquads was far from exceptional.48

In 1991, 622 children and adolescents werevictims of homicide in São Paulo. An analysis,carried out in the course of a UNICEF/PublicMinistry inquiry, of 307 of these homicidesfound that in 37 per cent of the cases the per-petrator was unknown, and the remaining 63per cent of cases were closed before a criminalprocess could be initiated. In 42 cases the vic-tims were shot from behind; in 29 cases victimswere shot at point blank range.

A first sign that the general trend of impunitycan be reversed comes from Guatemala, wherefour policemen have been convicted for murder-ing a street child, Nahamán Camona López, in1990. This is one of the few cases worldwidewhere official involvement in such homicides hasbeen proved. Another positive sign is an NGO-initiated programme to assist the GuatemalanNational Police in training new recruits on theproper treatment of street children. 47

Violence in institutionsViolence in institutions can take the form ofphysical punishment, physical restraint, solitaryconfinement and other types of isolation, obli-gations to wear distinctive clothing, reductionof diet, restriction or denial of contact withfamily members and/or friends, verbal abuse orsarcasm. In some legal systems, teachers’ andother carers’ legal rights to use physical andother types of punishment are derived fromtheir position in loco parentis. In others, theindependent authority of teachers and othersoutside the family to use such punishment isexplicitly confirmed in the law. Legal reform toprohibit physical punishment and other humili-ating treatment of children must, of course, pro-tect all children in all settings – in the home, inother informal settings, in non-institutionalizedforms of care (foster care, day care, and soforth), and in all schools and other institutions.

The Committee on the Rights of the Childhas found that violent punishment – canings,beatings and floggings – is still in use in somecountries as a sentence of the courts for offend-ers as young as 10, and is also used in penalinstitutions. In some communities ‘traditional’ or‘informal’ systems of justice also involve cor-poral punishment. The Committee has empha-

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(c) the exploitative use of children in porno-graphic performances and materials.

In recent years, extensive sexual abuse ofchildren in residential institutions has beenuncovered in many countries. In addition,‘organized’ sexual abuse of children – fre-quently using children in private or state-runresidential institutions – has been exposed,revealing networks of paedophiles.

Some forms of abuse are rooted in centuries-old traditional practices. Others are quite new –for example, the use of modern technology todisseminate child pornography, and other formsof commercial sexual exploitation including orga-nized sex tourism involving child prostitutes.

The age at which children are permitted toconsent to sexual activity varies from countryto country between 12 and 18 years. In somecountries a minimum age is specified, and inaddition a higher age when the sexual relation-ship is with a person in a position of trust orauthority over the child (for instance, a rela-tion, teacher or care worker). One example isprovided by Canada’s Criminal Code, whichspecifies that “it is a criminal offence to havesex with someone under the age of 14 years,with an exception where the younger partner isat least 12 years of age, where the age differ-ence between the two partners is less than twoyears, and where the older youth is not in aposition of trust or authority over the youngerone, nor is the latter his or her dependant.” 67

During the drafting of the Convention, rep-resentatives from France and the Netherlandswho proposed the inclusion of an article onprotection of children from exploitation,including in particular sexual exploitation,stated during discussion that the purpose wasnot to regulate the sexual life of children butrather to combat the sexual exploitation ofchildren on the basis of concrete examples. 72 51

In some countries there are differential ages ofconsent for girls and for boys, and for differentforms of sexuality – heterosexuality and homo-sexuality. In the United Kingdom, for example,the law recognizes a young person’s consent at16 to heterosexual activities, but at 18 to homo-sexual activities. These differences, like the verycommon gender differences in the minimumlegal age for marriage, are apparently in breachof the non-discrimination principle in Article 2 ofthe Convention.

Aside from the bar on discrimination, theConvention is not prescriptive about the age atwhich the child is to be given the right to con-sent to sexual activity. Such limits need to be

tion and dissemination of child pornography. Thegrowth of a worldwide market in child porno-graphy (disseminated not only through books andmagazines but through computer disks and theInternet) has led to cross-national police and cus-toms cooperation. The Committee on the Rightsof the Child has welcomed developments inindividual countries’ legislation to make the pos-session, as well as the production and dissemi-nation, of child pornography a criminal offence.

Sport and violencePhysical violence in sport – both by participantsand by spectators – has become an issue of con-cern in many countries. In relation to participantviolence, some countries have introduced legis-lation to prohibit sports such as boxing in whichinjuring an opponent is the deliberate aim (asdistinct from the occasional accidental injuriesthat occur in other ‘contact’ sports).

Sports bodies, internationally and nationally,are now taking very seriously the problem ofspectator violence – largely but not exclusivelyinvolving violence both to and by young people,almost invariably male. For example, the Councilof Europe Committee of Ministers has adopted a‘Code of Sports Ethics’, which emphasizes the

11

The issues

Sex tourism

There has been a great deal of publicityand debate about the issue of childprostitution. It is acknowledged as aproblem in both industrialized anddeveloping countries. Particular outragehas been focused on revelations of ‘sextourism’: the availability of childprostitutes has been advertised in thepromotion of holidays for mostlyWestern tourists in various countriesincluding the Philippines, India and SriLanka. Campaigns by internationalNGOs have led to a review of legislationin many countries to enable theirnationals to be prosecuted in their owncountry for criminal sexual abuse ofchildren committed in other countries.By 1995 more than 10 countries hadenacted such laws, and there had beensome prosecutions under them (forexample a Swede was prosecuted in1995 for sexual exploitation of a child inThailand). The Committee haswelcomed these reforms. In addition,the World Tourism Organization hasadopted a “Statement on the Preventionof Organized Sex Tourism”, to mobilizethe industry to be more sensitive tochildren’s interests, encouragingeducation, joint action and legal reform.

continued on page 14

judged against the overall principles of respectfor the child’s evolving capacities, and for his orher best interests and survival and maximumdevelopment. The international trend istowards a higher age of consent (for example,Sri Lanka recently raised it from 12 to 16;Thailand’s new anti-prostitution law has raisedthe age from 15 to 18).

The Committee on the Rights of the Childhas expressed particular concern at traditionalbeliefs that lead to exploitation – for example,the belief that by having sex with a young girl,one is able to rejuvenate oneself. During discus-sion of Jamaica’s initial report under theConvention, a Jamaican representative statedthat “in rural areas, residents were often reluctantto report cases of sexual abuse. In some parishes,it was held that sex with a virgin cured venerealdisease; that belief was sometimes responsiblefor the sexual abuse of very small children. Sincethe mother shared that belief, she would notreport the abuse. Such notions, grounded in tra-dition, were difficult to eradicate.” 68 There isalso chilling evidence that younger and youngerchildren are being used as prostitutes in anattempt to lessen the adults‘ risk of HIV/AIDS. 70

In 1996, the World Congress againstCommercial Sexual Exploitation of Childrenheld in Stockholm adopted a Declaration andAgenda for Action, using the Convention as itsframework:

The commercial sexual exploitation of children isa fundamental violation of children’s rights. Itcomprises sexual abuse by the adult and remu-neration in cash or kind to the child or a thirdperson or persons. The child is treated as a sex-ual object and as a commercial object. The com-mercial sexual exploitation of children constitutesa form of coercion and violence against children,and amounts to forced labour and a contempor-ary form of slavery. 41

Action at local, national and international lev-els was called for, including the developmentby the year 2000 of national agendas for actionand indicators of progress, with set goals andtime-frames for implementation.

Various international NGOs have promoteda proposal for an additional protocol to theConvention to cover particular manifestationsof sexual exploitation, including sex tourism. Inaddition, a United Nations Special Rapporteuron the Sale of Children has been studying andreporting on aspects of the problem.

Child pornographyA by-product of sexual abuse of children, and par-ticularly of organized sexual abuse, is the produc-

action internationally and nationally. In relationto combating sexual exploitation of children,the 1996 World Congress against CommercialSexual Exploitation of Children agreed adetailed agenda for action.

Reviewing all forms of support and all ser-vices for children and families from a specifi-cally anti-violence perspective. Inequality, dis-crimination and lack of appropriate support andservices for children and families all increasethe potential for violence. Thus, statewide pro-grammes aimed at challenging inequality andpoverty, improving health and education ser-vices and opportunities for children’s play andleisure, as well as family support including par-enting education and information and pre-school care and education will all be relevant toviolence prevention. But their full potential willonly be realized when they are reviewed indetail, focusing on what is being done, or couldbe done, within each programme or service toprevent and combat violence by applying non-violent attitudes, aspirations and behaviour.

Legal reform to remove tolerance in thelaw for any level of violence to children,including physical punishment and deliberatehumiliation in the home and in institutions.

Reviewing law, policy and practice on pos-session of guns and other lethal weapons, toreduce the risk and severity of injury.

Reform of juvenile justice systems in con-formity with the Convention and UnitedNations rules and guidelines, to ensure thatresponses to violent behaviour contribute toviolence prevention, rather than to a furtherproliferation of violence.

Challenging violence to children in institu-tions. Article 3.3 of the Convention requires that“institutions, services and facilities responsible forthe care and protection of children shall conformwith the standards established by competentauthorities, particularly in the areas of safety,health, in the number and suitability of their staffas well as competent supervision”. In relation toprotection from violence, there should be clearstandards established in legislation for all institu-tional settings which include children:● prohibiting physical punishment and any

other inhuman or degrading treatment orpunishment (in addition to this general pro-hibition, rules should specify the prohibition

Peter Newell launches here a discus-sion on strategies for combating vio-lence involving children based on thework of the UK Commission onChildren and Violence. Reactions tothis section as well as to other parts ofthe Digest will be reported in duecourse in an update to this publication.

As indicated throughout this Digest, theConvention on the Rights of the Child pro-vides a framework of principles and standardsfor policy development to reduce all forms ofviolence involving children. Systematic pro-grammes to reduce and prevent violence shouldbe part of every State’s agenda for children.The overall aim must be to build a safe, non-violent society for all. But the focus is on chil-dren because there is solid evidence to showthat early intervention is vital to prevent thedevelopment of violent attitudes and actions, inchildhood and later life.

It is crucial that strategies against violenceshould be carefully planned and be positive.Strategies and interventions can have unin-tended negative effects. For example, unrealisticfears of violence can lead to a fortress mentality,community distrust, and a reduction in children’sfreedom and mobility that is certainly not intheir best interests.

Basic strategiesAdoption of a commitment to building a non-violent society by government, communities,institutions, organizations. This demands:● understanding and acknowledgement of the

factors that interact to increase the potentialfor violence involving children, and thosethat prevent violence;

● action to prevent violence in all services forand work with children and their families;

● consistent disavowal, in particular by opinionleaders in every society, of all forms of inter-personal violence.Development of coordinating intersectoral

and interdisciplinary structures at national,regional and local levels to implement the com-mitment in practice. In relation to armed con-flict, the recent major report prepared for theUnited Nations on The Impact of Armed Conflict onChildren includes very detailed proposals for12

Discussion site

COMBATING VIOLENCE INVOLVING CHILDRENby Peter Newell

▼

Preventive policies in institutional settings

Policies for the prevention of any formsof violence by children against childrenin institutions should include:● provision of immediate protection and

support to those who suffer violence;● appropriate non-violent responses to

perpetrators of violence;● arrangements for ensuring that the

policy is known to all in the institution,including children, in a form they canunderstand;

● arrangements for monitoring andreviewing the operation of the policy,which should include children;

● ensuring there are clear and well-pub-licized procedures to enable childrento seek confidential advice, and tomake representations and complaintsabout their treatment to an indepen-dent body, with appropriate powers of investigation and recommen-dation/action. Such procedures shouldensure that, where necessary, childrenhave access to independent advocatesor representatives who can advisethem and/or act on their behalf; spe-cial arrangements may be required tosafeguard disabled children and veryyoung children.

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of any such forms of discipline or treatmentknown to have been commonly used);● requiring clear policies for the prevention of

any forms of violence by children againstchildren in institutions.Reviewing the role of the media, seeking to

ensure that the positive potential for aiding vio-lence prevention is fully realized, and that theportrayal of violent images does not contributeto the problem of violence. All involved in themedia accessible to children should committhemselves to working towards a non-violentsociety, and should be aware of current know-ledge of the effects of violent images on chil-dren. Classification schemes and voluntary con-trols to limit gratuitous violent images and chil-dren’s access to them should be introduced orimproved. Information on and packaging of pro-grammes and material should enable children,parents and other carers to exercise informed

control over viewing and listening. Appropriatemedia education should be encouraged, inschools and for the public.

Developing systems for information-gather-ing and research on violence involvingchildren. Implementation of Article 19 and otherlinked articles on violence to children demandsmore consistent information-gathering, as a basisfor the development of law, policy and practiceto assert children’s rights to physical and personal integrity and thus to help reduce andprevent all forms of interpersonal violence. Thefollowing section summarizes the information,statistics and research required.

Information-gatheringon violence to childrenFor adequate information to be provided onlevels of violence to children in all countries,common definitions, research protocols andindicators of effective child protection need tobe developed and agreed by appropriateauthorities in each country. The framework ofthe Convention should be used as the basis fordeveloping indicators.

❏ InformationFor policy development, information isrequired on:(a) Legal frameworks (criminal and family law):● law on assault: details of any exceptions or

defences related to violence to children,including any rights of parents or others touse violent or humiliating punishment, anddifferences in law between the protectionavailable to adults and to children; any otherspecific offences of violence to children – forinstance, cruelty;

● legislation or other arrangements to preventviolence to children in the penal system andin all institutions, both state-run and private,including violence by adults, and by otherchildren;

● legislation or other arrangements to preventor control traditional practices involving vio-lence or prejudicial to health;

● minimum age at which children are judgedcapable of consent to sexual activity;

● offences of sexual assault;● legislation or other arrangements to prevent

or control child prostitution, abuse of chil-dren in other jurisdictions by nationals (‘sextourism’), and child pornography (produc-tion, dissemination and possession);

● any legislation or guidance relating to chil-dren’s rights to confidential advice, coun-selling, treatment and compensation regard-ing violent victimization.

(b) Child protection systems. Definitions of childabuse used in legislation and/or administrationof child protection systems, including:● physical abuse;● emotional abuse;● sexual abuse;● neglect.

Details of child protection policy and proced-ures, including:● measures for prevention of all forms of vio-

lence in the family, in substitute care and ininstitutions; and for prevention of accidents,self-harm and suicide, and of sexual and otherforms of exploitation.

● children’s access to confidential advice andcounselling, for instance, through telephonehelplines;

● obligations, if any, to report violence to chil-dren;

● obligations on state authorities to investigate;● powers of investigation;● emergency powers to remove a child at risk;● criteria for compulsory separation of a child;● judicial/court involvement, including any

special arrangements for courts hearing casesconcerning violence to children (for exam-ple, arrangements for child witnesses); sen-tencing policies and any arrangements fordiversion from judicial process.

Arrangements to ensure respect for theConvention’s principles in all the above and anyother child protection and court procedures:● the best interests principle (Article 3);● right of child to express views and have them

taken seriously, and to be heard in any judicialor administrative proceedings (Article 12);

● respect for evolving capacities of children(Article 5); consideration of children’s rightto make decisions for themselves, to consentor withhold consent to examinations, etc.

Arrangements for rehabilitation of victims andcompensation (Article 39).

Arrangements for treatment and rehabilitation ofperpetrators of violence to children (Article 19).

Prevention programmes aimed at encouragingchildren to protect themselves from violence.

❏ StatisticsIf common definitions and – as far as possible –procedures can be established for the collectionof statistics, building on those of WHO andother agencies, and on existing research and sta-tistics in individual countries, it will be possible tomake comparisons over time within and betweencountries. This will help with the evaluation anddevelopment of prevention programmes.

(a) Criminal: Criminal statistics for violentcrimes against children, including homicide,various categories of physical and sexualassault, cruelty and abduction. Such statis-tics should be centrally collected andanalysed by age and sex of victim, andwhere appropriate by status of perpetrator.They should be presented also as a propor-tion of the age group.

(b) Child protection: Statistics on causes of allchild deaths (this demands careful investi-gation to identify causes and inform preven-tion). Systematic injury surveillance of chil-dren within health services – doctors, otherhealth professionals, hospital outpatientsand admissions. Police and social welfareauthorities’ statistics on reported cases ofviolence and the results of investigationsfollowing reports. Where local registers ofchildren ‘at risk’ of violence and/or abuseare maintained, analysis of numbers andproportion of relevant age group on regis-ters by cause (actual or suspected abuse;type of abuse), gender and age.

Returns from all institutions involvingchildren (or a representative sample of differ-ent categories of institutions – schools, childcare, penal, health) of incidents of violence,including bullying and self-harm, based onconfidential interviewing of children.

❏ ResearchRetrospective studies of representative groups ofadults’ childhood experiences of violence (usingcommonly agreed questions and definitions).

Studies of levels of physical and sexual violenceto children in representative samples of families,using in-depth confidential interviews with chil-dren and parents, also covering violence experi-enced in institutions and communities.

Analysis of calls relating to violence made toany confidential helplines for children.

In addition, there is a need for specific and lon-gitudinal research studies, building on the sub-stantial work already carried out in some coun-tries, to:● seek information on factors involved in the

development of various forms of violence tochildren;

● evaluate preventive strategies – including inparticular children’s own views of profes-sional and other interventions. There willalso need to be research to evaluate the col-lection of statistics – for instance, the processof recording deaths as homicide, and injuriesas abuse/assault. 13

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responsibility of all concerned to work closelywith and set a good example to children andyoung people.

Another kind of violence is endured by youngathletes on the champion track. Driven bydreams of prestige and profit, trainers and parents

racial and sexual harassment) to serious physi-cal assault. More positively, non-violent con-flict resolution has become a standard part ofthe curriculum of many school systems,together with anti-bullying strategies devel-oped cooperatively by students, teachers andparents. The Norwegian professor DanOlweus, for instance, carried out pioneeringwork in assessing the prevalence of school bullying in Norway. Use of a questionnaire na-tionally revealed that about 15 per cent ofpupils were involved in bully/victim problems“now and then” or more frequently; about 9 per

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PREVALENCE OF VIOLENCE BY CHILDREN▼

The James Bulger tragedy

One particular violent crime by young children in 1993 received worldwide mediaattention: the tragic violent abduction and murder of two-year-old James Bulger inLiverpool, United Kingdom, by two 10-year-old boys. At first the media spotlight focusedon the details of the murder. But increasingly the spotlight, in the UK and elsewhere, hasshifted to a more considered look at the antecedents of the event in the two boy-murderers’ childhood, and at their treatment following arrest. The boys were held inseparate locked units for six months before their trial, with no access to any form oftreatment, in case it prejudiced their prosecution. They were tried in an adult court, asadults would have been tried, and at the end of the trial the judge, describing the boys’action as “an act of unparalleled evil and barbarity”, sentenced them to be detained “atHer Majesty’s pleasure” (parlance for an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment underthe English system) and revealed their identities. His recommendation that they should belocked up for a minimum of eight years was increased to 10 years by the Lord ChiefJustice, and to 15 years by the Home Secretary.

The murder was not in fact unparalleled; most countries report very rare but occasionalmurders by children of children. Far more common in all societies, but receiving far lessattention, are horrific murders of children by their parents.

The method of setting the sentence and the manner of the boys’ trial are currentlybeing challenged in the UK courts and before the European Commission of HumanRights. In June 1997, England’s highest court, the House of Lords, judged the method ofsentencing by the Home Secretary to have been unlawful. Such treatment of childrenclearly breaches the principles and standards of the Convention. Research evidence alsosuggests strongly that it conflicts with the interests of the society into which the boys willeventually be reintegrated. It is interesting to note that in France, also in 1993, judgesdetermining the sentences of young murderers gave priority to care within the family,allowing three young children found guilty of the brutal murder of a tramp to remainwith their families instead of being institutionalized. 69

pressure children into following extremely rigor-ous training regimes. Young sports protégésbecome commodities, traded on national andinternational markets. In the two years followingthe fall of the Berlin Wall, for instance, some 40young soccer players aged 13–17 were ‘bought’by Western German clubs. Other children have

been doped by trainers to enhance performance,or forced to diet in order to qualify for matches.For every child who becomes a champion, thereare hundreds of children who have sacrificedtheir childhoods and sometimes their health,while receiving very little in return, frequentlynot even a proper education. 9

cent were victims and 7 per cent bullies. Ananti-bullying policy introduced in Norway as aresult is said to have reduced the incidence byup to 50 per cent. 30

Children’s self-inflictedviolenceProtecting children from self-inflicted violence,including suicide and attempted suicide, comeswithin the ambit not only of Article 19 of theConvention on the Rights of the Child, but also

continued from page 11

There is current concern in many soci-eties worldwide at levels of violence bychildren and young people. In some soci-eties it would appear that such waves ofconcern are cyclical, rather than based onhard evidence of real increases. There isalso the tendency of the media to focuson particularly horrific but isolatedevents, such as the Bulger case, ratherthan on overall trends.

Violent crimesEstimates of trends of serious violence by chil-dren and young people generally come fromage-analysed statistics of convictions for violent(including sexual) offences. But as with statisticsof violence to children, changes may reflect agreater sensitivity to violent offences, moreresources put into investigation, or varying pol-icies in relation to young offenders (for instance,the current move in some industrialized coun-tries away from informal, non-judicial responsestowards more prosecution and more custodialsentences).

In a very few countries there have also beenlarge-scale crime surveys involving interviewswith children and young people about theircriminal, including violent, behaviour, which arelikely to provide more accurate reflections ofreality, and if repeated over time, an indicationof real trends in behaviour.

Some countries report increased concernover violence by children in schools and otherinstitutions, including suggestions that morechildren are carrying weapons – guns andknives. In various parts of the United States,schools have installed metal detectors, andsecurity guards patrol buildings. One aspect ofthe problem is bullying, which can range fromteasing and harassment (commonly including

of Article 6, the right to life. Increases in the sui-cide rate, in particular among young men, havebeen reported in recent years from most indus-trialized countries. Another cause of concern incertain countries has been a high rate of self-harm and suicide in institutions, including, inparticular, custodial penal institutions for juve-nile offenders. There have been suggestions thatsuicide by young people is underrecorded insome countries, presumably to avoid causingpain and embarrassment to parents and others.

Protection from self-harm overlaps with

protection of children from drug abuse (Article33). Research has found particular linksbetween suicide and the use by young peopleof narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances,including alcohol.

Eating disorders and disturbances (anorexianervosa and bulimia nervosa) represent anotherform of self-harm. Eating disorders onlybecame a subject of major systematic study inthe 1970s. A recent review of internationalresearch concluded that there was no clear evi-dence of increased prevalence. These disorders

occur mostly among young women during ado-lescent development. They are disorders ofaffluence, plenty and economic development,much more common in advanced industrializednations. The “thin body ideal of femininebeauty, established continuously since around1960, seems an important predisposing condi-tion for eating disorders”; media disseminationof the ‘ideal’, and greater exposure to the mediacould have caused an increase in eating disor-ders, but no research has yet demonstrated acausal relationship. 14

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WHY DO CHILDREN BECOME VIOLENT?▼

The antecedents of violence

A detailed US study found that being abused or neglected as a child increased thelikelihood of arrest as a juvenile by 53 per cent, as an adult by 38 per cent, and for aviolent crime by 38 per cent. 37

A recent review of the backgrounds of a large sample of children who have killed orcommitted other grave (usually violent) crimes in the United Kingdom found that 72 percent had experienced abuse, and 57 per cent significant loss (death or loss of contactwith someone important); 35 per cent had experienced both phenomena, and a total of91 per cent had experienced one or both (see the chart). The report emphasizes that“Not all children who experience these phenomena become violent offenders, and not allviolent offenders have suffered these traumata. However the frequency is sufficiently highto make the pattern worthy of some attention and to ask how it can be avoided.” 5

91

0

Background of serious child offenders in the UK

20 40 60 80 100

Both abuse and loss Significant loss Abuse One or both

35

57

72

for violence are the same as for delinquency.But substantial research evidence has high-lighted violent and humiliating forms of disci-pline as significant in the development of vio-lent attitudes and actions from an early age.

Violence is overwhelmingly a male problem;the roots for this appear to be primarily socialrather than biological, highlighting the inade-quacies of current socialization of male chil-dren, and the promotion of insensitive andoverbearing male behavioural models and atti-tudes in many societies.

There is no clear evidence of geneticcausation of violence, but one factor in a pre-disposition to violence may be an individual’stemperament. Genetic and social influences areinextricably intertwined. From the earliest age,how a child behaves will determine his or herrelationships with others and how he or she istreated, by parents and siblings, by other chil-dren, by other carers and teachers. Whileacknowledging that “biological and personalityfactors may predispose individuals to violence”,the Australian National Committee on

The idea that some children are born

‘bad’ and destined to be violent sur-vives, and it underlies punitive – andfrequently violent – responses to

children’s behaviour in many soci-eties. Available research on childdevelopment, however, provides no

support for such negative theories.Children’s violent behaviour oftenhas its origin in adult violence tochildren, usually in the home.

The cycle of violenceThe ‘cycle of violence’ is certainly not a simpleconcept, nor is it clearly understood. There isno doubt that the direct experience of violence(or neglect) in childhood substantiallyincreases the risk of subsequent violent behav-iour. But the majority of such victimized chil-dren do not become violent.

Given the multiplicity of factors involved,studies of the antecedents of violence cannotidentify causes beyond doubt. Even in the caseof alcohol and other substance abuse, wherethe connection with aggressive or violentbehaviour may appear obvious, simple causallinks are difficult to establish. Research can,however, identify risk factors and make judg-ments about the relative significance of particu-lar factors. All commentators appear agreedthat it is in the early years, and in particularwithin the family, that attitudes to violence aregenerally formed. The best predictor of vio-lence in adulthood is violent behaviour inchildhood. Most of the risk factors identified

Violence cited “strong evidence” that “in almostevery case a loving and secure environment canovercome such predispositions”.45

Inadequate monitoring and supervision ofchildren by parents and other adults can be crucial in realizing a potential for violence.The American Psychological AssociationCommission on Violence and Youth found that“youth at risk of becoming extremely aggressiveand violent tend to share common experiencesthat appear to place them on a ‘trajectorytowards violence’. These youth tend to haveexperienced weak bonding to caretakers ininfancy and ineffective parenting techniques,including lack of supervision, inconsistent dis-cipline, highly punitive or abusive treatmentand failure to reinforce positive, pro-socialbehaviour. These developmental deficits, inturn, appear to lead to poor peer relations andhigh levels of aggressiveness. . .” 1

Economic and environmental deprivationsare powerful stress factors, in particular makingit more difficult to be an effective parent.Crude international comparisons suggest thatviolence is greatest in societies with thesharpest social and economic inequalities. Arecent WHO report commented:

We are only beginning to understand how markedsocial and economic disparities contribute to theaetiology of violence. Poverty, joblessness and thelack of real employment opportunities may pro-mote violence by generating a sense of frustration,low self-esteem, hopelessness about the future, andfamily instability. Racism and sexism producesocial and economic disparities and may con-tribute to violence by depriving certain segments ofthe society of the opportunities to be successful inschool and work. The poor in many societies donot have equal access to criminal justice, healthcare and educational systems, making it more dif-ficult to escape from the impoverished conditionsthat contribute to violence. 43

Broader social factors are influential too: theextent to which a society appears to condoneviolence influences the values and the actions ofindividuals. In many societies, for example,there is support for violent punishment of chil-dren, ambivalence about violence in sport, and aconsiderable appetite for violent images in themedia.

Violent images and toysConcern at levels of interpersonal violence inWestern societies has led to a current focuson the effects that violent images in the

media – in particular on television, in videosand most recently computer-generatedimages – may have on children. The concernsare both that frequent exposure to suchimages may desensitize children to violenceand that children may be encouraged to imi-tate particular violent behaviour.

A recent American review of availableresearch, covering 188 studies over the period1957–1990, concluded: “Overall, the vast major-ity of studies, whatever their methodology,showed that exposure to television violenceresulted in increased aggressive behaviour, bothcontemporaneously and over time.” 34 But itshould be emphasized that these findings arechallenged by other academics who point toflaws in the research, inadequate analysis of thecontext of violence in television and films, andthe lack of acknowledgement that very often pro-social, anti-violence messages prevail; there arealso studies that, through direct interviews withchildren, challenge the idea that children areparticularly vulnerable to the effects of the media.

In addition to Article 19, the Conventionrequires States in Article 17 to “encourage thedevelopment of appropriate guidelines for theprotection of the child from information andmaterial injurious to his or her well-being, bear-ing in mind the provisions of Articles 13 and18”. Guidelines must be developed in formsthat respect the child’s right to freedom ofexpression (Article 13), and the primaryresponsibility of the parents for the upbringingand development of the child (Article 18). Theoverall emphasis of Article 17 is on encourag-ing the mass media to develop their pro-socialpotential for child development.

The United Nations Guidelines for thePrevention of Juvenile Delinquency alsoemphasize the “extensive social role andresponsibility” of the mass media:

The mass media generally, and the television andfilm media in particular, should be encouraged tominimize the level of pornography, drugs andviolence portrayed and to display violence andexploitation disfavourably, as well as to avoiddemeaning and degrading presentations, espe-cially of children, women and interpersonal rela-tions, and to promote egalitarian principles androles. (para. 43)Modern technological developments, includ-

ing satellite and cable television, computer-gen-erated images and the Internet, make it increas-ingly difficult for States to control the content of

media readily available to the population,including children. This emphasizes the protect-ive role of parents and other carers. There iscommon agreement that children and their par-ents and other carers need to be educated in crit-ical understanding of modern media. Thoseinvolved in the media need to ensure that theyact responsibly, and that the content of theirproducts and programmes is clearly labelled toenable parents to exercise appropriate guidanceand direction to their children.

In countries where there is a high sensitivityto violence, these considerations have led to acombination of state regulation (codes for broad-casters and others requiring precise labelling andwarnings of the violent content of products/pro-grammes, age-related classification of videos,defined times for the transmission of ‘adult’ pro-grammes, complaints systems and enforcementprocedures), voluntary controls by the privatesector, and media education in schools and forthe public, including in particular parents.

‘Aggressive toys’ (defined as toys whose pur-pose is to stimulate behaviour or fantasy involv-ing the attempted injury of another person)raise similar concerns to violent images in themedia: they may reflect and contribute to anoverall desensitization of children to violence,and they may inhibit more pro-social and non-violent play. In Sweden the production of wartoys has been banned; Spain and Germany donot allow them to be advertised. A 1982 resolu-tion of the European Parliament called onMember States to ban visual and verbal adver-tising of war toys, and also the manufacture andwhere possible sale of replica guns and rifles;the production or sale of war toys should beprogressively reduced; and these toys replacedwith toys that are constructive and thatdevelop creativity. 54

The debate on the significance of mediaviolence and aggressive toys as factors in thedevelopment of violent attitudes and actions isan important one, but it should not be allowedto divert attention from the actual experienceof violence by children at the hands of adults –and its potent effects on their development.

■

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Various intergovernmental organiza-tions are concerned with aspects ofviolence involving children.

UNICEF, the World Health Organization(WHO), the Office of the United NationsHigh Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR), for example, all contributed tothe United Nations study on the Impact ofArmed Conflict on Children, led by GraçaMachel. UNICEF has an established policyfor action on behalf of children in need ofspecial protection measures, which isgrounded in the Convention on the Rightsof the Child and which will be imple-mented in part through the establishmentof specific country, regional and globaltechnical support networks. TheProgramme Division of UNICEF New Yorkhas a Child Protection Section, whichincludes a focus on street children. WHOhas recently established a Task Force onViolence and Health and is consideringproposals for making violence preventiona public health priority. The InternationalLabour Organisation (ILO) has conductedstudies on street children and sexualexploitation in connection with itsInternational Programme on theElimination of Child Labour (IPEC). TheUnited Nations Educational, Scientific andCultural Organization (UNESCO) held aconference on ‘Young People and theMedia’ in April 1997, in which the problemof violence figured prominently. TheUnited Nations Interregional Crime andJustice Research Institute (UNICRI) inRome has directed attention to violence inthe family (see Bibliography).

Similarly, there are international andnational professional organizations – par-ticularly in the fields of law, social work,health, education and psychology – as wellas academic and other institutes, whosework is relevant to the topic. In addition,several countries have one or morenational bodies focused exclusively on theprevention of child abuse and neglect.

Considering the significant role thatNGOs have played in raising some of theissues highlighted in this Digest , theCentre decided that it would be appropri-ate to bring their activities into focus. Ittherefore contacted a number of organiza-tions, mainly at the regional and interna-tional levels, requesting them to provideinformation about their work. The follow-ing section contains their replies. It is notmeant to be a comprehensive listing; nordoes it represent a prioritization or rankingof organizations, but merely a first attempt

to provide signposts in a highly complexfield. Some Internet information has alsobeen included, which reflects websitesavailable in June 1997; this information, ofcourse, is subject to change.

GENERALGENERALChild Rights Information Network (CRIN)An important entry point to NGOs at thenational level is the Child Rights InformationNetwork (CRIN), which has an organizationsdatabase and membership directory, coveringall aspects of children’s rights. Entries can besorted by expertise and by geographical area.

Becky PurbrickCoordinatorc/o Save the Children17 Grove LaneLondon SE5 8RDUnited KingdomTel.: +44 171 703 5400Fax: +44 171 793 7630E-mail: crin@pro-net.co.ukWeb page:http://www.childhub.ch/webpub/crhome

Forum on Children and ViolenceThe Forum on Children and Violence providesa new and innovative model of a nationalorganization aiming to deal holistically with thesubject of violence and children. Established in1997 by the UK Commission on Children andViolence, the Forum brings together a widerange of people committed to working towardsa non-violent society through prevention ofviolence involving children. The Forum has anewsletter and is compiling checklists onviolence prevention. It is included here as amodel for national-level organizationsinterested in providing a forum on the differentaspects of children and violence.

Janet Converyc/o National Children’s Bureau8 Wakley StreetLondon EC1V 7QEUnited KingdomTel.: +44 171 843 6309Fax: +44 171 278 9512

International Centre for Childhood and the Family (ICCAF)A third organization with a general focus,including activities relating to violence, is theInternational Centre for Childhood and theFamily (ICCAF), recently formed through themerger of the International Children’s Centreand the Institute of the Child and the Family.ICCAF is dedicated to children’s health,protection and rights worldwide throughinformation, training and consultingprogrammes.Dr. Olivier BrasseurDirector-GeneralCarrefour de LongchampBois de Boulogne75016 ParisFrance

Tel.: +33 1 44 30 20 00Fax: +33 1 45 25 73 67E-mail: 1006.31.1101@CompuServe.com

CHILD ABUSE CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECTAND NEGLECTAfrican Network for the Prevention andProtection against Child Abuse and Neglect(ANPPCAN)Regional OfficeP.O. Box 71420NairobiKenyaTel.: +254 2 72 24 96/72 67 94Fax: +254 2 72 19 99E-mail: anppcan@arcc.or.keWeb page:http://www.africaonline.co.ke/anppcanPerson(s) to contactOuko Ooko MosesDocumentalistScopeBenin, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho,Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa,Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambiaand ZimbabweActivitiesUndertakes activities related to child abuseand neglect in general, and youth andviolence.Information servicesProvides information on how and whereabused children can be assisted; on children’srights and child protection; on children’s rightsorganizations in Africa; and on African StatesParties to both the CRC and the African Charteron the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

Child VIP Project (Violence Identificationand Prevention)1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 1500Seattle, WA 98111-3846USATel.: + 1 206 292 1144E-mail: driter@igc.apc.org orjkydd@helsell.comWeb page: http://www.speakeasy.org/childvipPerson(s) to contactDianne RiterCoordinatorDate founded1995

ON THE WEB: General organizationsUnited Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights: Contains database ofdocuments (State Party Reports, ConcludingObservations, Summary Reports, etc.) relatingto the Committee on the Rights of the Child aswell as to other treaty bodies.http://www.unhchr.ch

Child Rights Information Network: Includesgeneral information on its members and theirprojects and publications. Database of morethan 500 CRIN members can be searched bytopic and regional or country focus.http://www.childhub.ch/webpub/crhome

ScopeInternationalActivitiesDevelops protocols for the identification,assessment, diagnosis and prevention ofviolence to children on topics including:physical trauma, sexual trauma, psychologicaltrauma, armed conflict and inappropriatechild labour; develops effective methods forreporting identified traumas.Information servicesMaintains a web site with copies of protocols;publishes a Taxonomy of Trauma.

Fundación para la Protección de la InfanciaDañada por los Estados de Emergencia(PIDEE-CEDIAL)Av. Holanda 3587Casilla 599-11SantiagoChileTel.: + 562 225 8752Fax: idemE-mail: pidee@reuna.clWeb page: http://www2.chilenet.cl/pideePerson(s) to contactMaría Eugenía RojasExecutive SecretaryDate founded1980ScopeLatin AmericaActivitiesProvides psychosocial assistance to children atrisk; runs a Documentation Centre on Infancyin Latin America (CEDIAL).Information servicesIssues a bulletin on childhood and children’srights in Latin America; broadcasts aprogramme entitled “Children’s Rights:Dreams and Realities”.

The International Society for thePrevention of Child Abuse and Neglect(ISPCAN)401 N. Michigan St., Suite 2200Chicago, IL 60611USATel.: +1 312 644 6610 ext. 4713Fax: +1 312 321 6869

E-mail: Kim_svevo@sba.comWeb page:http://child.cornell.edu/ispcan/ispcan.htmlPerson(s) to contactKimberly SvevoStaff DirectorHoward B. Levy, M.D.PresidentE-mail: howpep@aol.comDate founded1977ScopeWorldwide networkActivitiesCarries out work to prevent abuse, neglect,exploitation and all other forms of cruelty tochildren, and to promote children’s healthyphysical and social development. Emphasis ison increasing international collaboration.Information servicesPublishes research journals, an internationalnewsletter (in English and Spanish), specialreports and books of abstracts; organizescongresses, conferences, training seminarsand workshops.

CHILDREN AND ARMEDCHILDREN AND ARMEDCONFLICTSCONFLICTSANPPCAN(Full contact details under Child abuse andneglect)ActivitiesUndertakes activities related to children insituations of armed conflict, and refugees anddisplaced children.

Child VIP Project(Full contact details under Child abuse andneglect)ActivitiesDevelops protocols related to trauma as aresult of armed conflict.

International Catholic Child Bureau(Full contact details under Sexual abuse andexploitation)ActivitiesCarries out research on psychosocial needs ofchild soldiers; runs a pilot project with Liberianrefugees in the Ivory Coast to rebuildcommunity strengths; and is planning aproject to enhance local capacities in post-conflict situations (Sierra Leone, Liberia).Information servicesPublications on child soldiers, recoveryprogrammes for children and families,reintegration of young ex-combatants intocivilian life, psychological needs of refugeechildren.

International Federation Terre des Hommes(IFTDH)31, chemin Frank-TomasCH-1208 GenevaSwitzerlandTel.: +41 22 736 33 72Fax: +41 22 736 15 10

E-mail: Fitdh@infomaniak.chPerson(s) to contactEylah Kadjar-HamoudaRepresentative to the United NationsDate founded1966ScopeAffiliated offices in Germany, France,Luxembourg and the Netherlands, workingwith partners in 55 countries of Africa, Asiaand Latin AmericaActivitiesCarries out projects with children affected byarmed conflict and undertakes advocacy atnational and international levels. Participatesin the international campaign to banlandmines.Information servicesProvides publications, contacts with differentmembers of IFTDH network, and informationon projects and best practice.

Quaker United Nations Office – GenevaQuaker HouseAvenue du Mervelet 131209 GenevaSwitzerlandTel.: + 41 22 748 4800Fax: + 41 22 748 4819E-mail: Quno@pop.unicc.orgWeb site: http://geneva-international.org/GvaIntl/gi/egi/egi099.htmPerson(s) to contactRachel BrettAssociate Representatitive

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ON THE WEB: Child abuse and neglectAfrican Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse andNeglect (ANPPCAN):http://www.africaonline.co.ke/anppcan

Child VIP: Information on physical and otherkinds of trauma.http://www.speakeasy.org/childvip

Fundación de Protección a la InfanciaDañada (PIDEE-CEDIAL) por los Estados de Emergencia:http://www2.chilenet.cl/pidee

International Society for Prevention of ChildAbuse and Neglect (ISPCAN): InternationalJournal and Newletter.http://child.cornell.edu/ispcan/ispcan.html

ON THE WEB: Children and armed conflictsChildren of War: A newsletter on child soldiersfrom Rädda Barnen.http://www.rb.se/chilwar

Impact of Armed Conflict on Children: Full textof the official report of Graça Machel, Expert ofthe Secretary-General of the United Nations.http://www.unicef.org/graca

International Committee of the Red Cross(ICRC): Reports on operations by countries,issues and topics, including children and warand protection of children in humanitarianlaw. Also list of ICRC publications.http://www.icrc.ch

Quaker United Nations Office:http://geneva-international.org/GvaIntl/gi/egi/egi099.htm

Relief Web: a project of the United NationsDepartment of Humanitarian Affairs. Updatedinformation on disaster situations. More than800 links to country and regional information.http://www.reliefweb.int

Office of the United Nations HighCommissioner for Refugees (UNHCR): Includesbackground papers on refugees and asylumseekers from different countries; Human RightsWatch analyses; and bibliographicinformation.http://www.unhcr.ch

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Date founded1948ScopeInternationalActivitiesCarries out work at international/UnitedNations level on child soldiers – raising age forrecruitment/participation in hostilities andraising international awareness about childsoldiers.Information servicesProvides information on United Nationsactivities on child soldiers, in particular on thedraft optional protocol to the Convention onthe Rights of the Child on the involvement ofchildren in armed conflict and on the UnitedNations study on Impact of Armed Conflict onChildren.

Rädda Barnen(Swedish Save the Children)Torsgatan 4SE-107 88StockholmSwedenTel.: +468 698 90 00Fax: +46 8 698 90 13Web page: http://www.rb.sePerson(s) to contactCarl von EssenExpert in children in armed conflictE-mail: carl.vonessen@rb.seDate founded1919ScopeBangladesh, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Eritrea,Guatemala, Guinea Bissau, Kenya,Nicaragua, Pakistan, Peru, South Africa,Sudan, Vietnam and YemenActivitiesIn this area, carries out activities related toprotecting the rights of children affected byarmed conflict: refugees; children displacedwithin their own countries; child soldiers; andchildren who have lost contact with theirfamilies. Work focuses on protection, rights torehabilitation, psychosocial health, educationand reintegration.Information servicesProvides searches in a number ofbibliographic databases. Particular focus oncollecting information in the area of childsolders. Its home page at http://www.rb.se isan important source of information.

HARMFUL TRADITIONALHARMFUL TRADITIONALPRACTICESPRACTICESInter-African Committee (IAC)Headquartersc/o Economic Commission for Africa/ACWP.O. Box 3001Addis AbabaEthiopiaTel.: +25 11 51 72 00/51 57 93Fax: +25 11 51 46 82E-mail: IAC@padis.gn.apc.org

Liaison Office147 rue de LausanneCH-1202 GenevaSwitzerlandTel.: +41 22 31 24 20/732 0821Fax: +41 22 738 18 23E-mail: cominter@iprolink.chPerson(s) to contactHeadquartersElizabeth AlabiSenior Programme OfficerLiaison OfficeBerhane Ras-Work (Ms.) President (Headquarters)Date founded1984Scope25 African countries, as well as France,Sweden and the United KingdomActivitiesCombats harmful traditional practices such asfemale genital mutilation, early marriage andnutritional taboos, and promotes positivepractices such as breastfeeding and childspacing.Information servicesProvides information materials, leaflets,videos, newsletters, educational materials,reports of conferences and research studies.

WOMANKIND Worldwide3 Albion Place, Galena Rd.London W6 OLTUnited KingdomTel.: +44 181 563 8607/8Fax: +44 181 563 8611E-mail: womankind@gn.apc.orgWeb page:http://www.oneworld.org/womankindPerson(s) to contactSimona MalambriInformation OfficerTrudi HarrisFundraising and CommunicationsCoordinatorDate founded1989ScopeBrazil, Ghana, India, Nicaragua and PeruActivitiesCarries out projects to combat female genitalmutilation.Information servicesProvides project profiles, statistics on countrieswhere IAC has projects, statistics and generalinformation on women’s issues.

ILLICIT TRANSFERILLICIT TRANSFERInternational Social Service (ISS)32 quai du Seujet1201 GenevaSwitzerlandTel.: +22 731 7454/55Fax: +22 738 0949E-mail: iss.gs@span.chPerson(s) to contactChantal SaclierInternational Programmes DirectorDate founded1924ScopeBranches and affiliated offices: Argentina,Australia, Canada, Finland, France,Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan,Netherlands, Philippines, Portugal, Spain,Switzerland, UK, USA, Venezuela.Correspondents in 80 countries.ActivitiesProvides social services (to the general public)relating to illicit transfer; intrafamilialabduction; and intercounty adoption and illicittransfer and abuses/trafficking/sale/abduction.Information servicesFor organizations and professionals involvedin the protection of children’s rights (but notopen to the general public): providesinformation and networking on violence inintercountry adoption.

PHYSICAL PUNISHMENTPHYSICAL PUNISHMENTEPOCH-Worldwide(End Physical Punishment of Children)77 Holloway RoadLondon N7 8JZUnited KingdomTel.: +44 171 700 0627Fax: +44 171 700 1105E-mail: epoch-worldwide@mcr1.poptel.org.ukPerson(s) to contactPeter NewellCoordinatorDate founded1990ScopeInternational network of over 70 organizations;members in 40 countries in all continentsActivitiesLobbies governments and organizations nationallyand internationally to encourage education andlegal reform to end physical punishment ofchildren; maintains database of relevantinformation; acts as an information network.Information servicesPublishes handbooks and materials onpositive non-violent discipline.

SEXUAL ABUSE SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOITAND EXPLOITAATIONTIONECPAT(End Child Prostitution, Child Pornographyand the Trafficking of Children for SexualPurposes)ECPAT Information Centre328, Phyathai RoadBangkok 10400Thailand

ON THE WEB: Harmful traditional practicesInter-African Committee on TraditionalPractices Affecting the Health of Women andChildren (IAC):http://www.who.ch/programmes/ina/ngo/ngo-14.htm

Womankind Worldwide: Information page.http://www.oneworld.org/womankind/wk_info.html

Tel.: +66 2 2153388/6110972/6110973Fax: +66 2 2158272E-mail: ecpatbkk@ksc15.th.comPerson(s) to contactHervé BergerExecutive DirectorDate founded1991ScopeAustralia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium,Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Denmark, France,Finland, Germany, India, Italy, Japan,Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway,Philippines, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden,Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, UnitedKingdom, Viet NamActivitiesMotivates local communities to find strategiesthat will protect children; works closely withNGOs, UNICEF, ILO and other individuals andgroups; monitors the activities of sex abusers,child traffickers and sex tourists; involvesyoung people themselves in seeking solutionsto commercial sexual abuse; seeks ways tocontrol the flow of child pornography in shopsand on the Internet; provides expert advice togovernments on changes in law needed toprotect children; works closely with Interpoland local law enforcers to ensure laws areimplemented; assists the tourism industry in itscampaign to end sex tourism. Initiated the 1996World Congress Against the CommercialSexual Exploitation of Children held inStockholm, Sweden.Information servicesIssues a quarterly newsletter, a monthlybulletin of news clippings and articles, amonthly ‘Global Updates’ summary of keyactivities undertaken by governments andNGOs against the sexual abuse of children.

Human Rights Watch – Children’s RightsProject(Full contact details under Street children)ActivitiesUndertakes studies on trafficking and sexualexploitation of girls and women(Burma/Thailand, Nepal/India).

International Catholic Child BureauBureau International Catholique de l’Enfance(BICE)63 rue de Lausanne1202 GenevaSwitzerland

Tel.: +41 22 731 3248Fax: +41 22 731 7793E-mail: bice_ch@compuserve.comPerson(s) to contactFlorence CrampeDate founded1948ScopeAffiliated offices in Austria, Belgium, France,Germany, Italy, Ivory Coast, Philippines,Uruguay, USA

ActivitiesA regional Latin American programme ineight countries aims to strengthen localresources to address the issue of sexual abuseand exploitation; a preventive programme inNorthern Thailand seeks to strengthencommunity resilience to the sale of children forprostitution. Also maintains a programme withyoung girls in Togo and plans to develop afollow-up project to the Stockholm Congress toreview preventive and rehabilitationstrategies for child victims of sexualexploitation.Information servicesProvides publications upon requestconcerning approaches to prevention andpsychosocial recovery of child victims ofcommercial sexual exploitation.

WAO–Afrique(Action to Stop Child Exploitation)45, rue du SéminaireB.P. 80242LoméTogo

Tel.: + 228 21 41 13Fax: + 228 21 73 45Person(s) to contactCléophas K. MallyDirectorDate founded1990ScopeBénin, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Niger, Senegal,TogoActivitiesConducts studies on child domestics, childrenin bondage and trafficking of children;provides literacy and vocational training forchild victims; carries out advocacy and lobbiesgovernments to make legislative changes andto adopt protective policies towards vulnerablegroups of children.Information servicesMaintains a children’s rights documentationcentre, which is open to the public and offersinformation on children’s rights in general andon specific cases of violence towards children(child domestics, trafficking of children,contemporary forms of slavery). Also canmake available photos, and interviews ofchildren on cassette.

STREET CHILDRENSTREET CHILDRENANPPCAN(Full contact details under Child abuse andneglect)

Casa Alianza/Covenant House Latin AmericaMailing address only (the regional office islocated in Costa Rica):SJO 1039PO Box 025216Miami FL 33102-5216USA

Tel. (in Costa Rica): +506 253 5439Fax (in Costa Rica): +506 224 5689E-mail: bruce@casa-alianza.orgWeb page: http://www.casa-alianza.orgPerson(s) to contactBruce HarrisExecutive Director, Latin American ProgramsDate founded1981ScopeCosta Rica, Mexico, Guatemala, HondurasActivitiesRuns legal aid offices in Mexico, Guatemalaand Honduras whose functions includepersonal documentation for street children(birth certificates, credentials); legal defence ofchild victims of human rights abuses;prosecution of perpetrators of violence againststreet children; and awareness-raisingthrough the mass media. The agency has a‘Rapid Response’ e-mail network, open to thepublic, whose several thousand membersreceive updates on incidents of violencetowards street children, and respond viae-mail to government officials and the media,thus creating strong international pressure forchange.Information servicesMaintains home page, which is continuallyupdated and receives an average of 2,000visitors per month; responds to questions fromthe public; provides support to organizationsinvolved in the legal defence of street children.

ChildHope UK40 Rosebery AvenueLondon EC1R 4RNUnited Kingdom

Tel.: +44 171 833 0868Fax: +44 171 833 2500E-mail: chuk@gn.apc.orgContactNicolas FentonDirectorScopeAffiliated offices in Brazil, Guatemala,Philippines and USA. Partner projects inAlbania, Brazil, Bulgaria, Philippines,Romania, South Africa, Turkey20

Links

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ON THE WEB: Sexual abuseand exploitationECPAT International: news, country reportsand publications on aspects of childprostitution, child pornography and thetrafficking of children for sexual purposes.http://www.rb.se/ecpatWorld Congress against Commercial SexualExploitation of Children: Factsheets, themepapers, Declaration, links, press materials andCongress reports resulting from Congress heldin Stockholm, Sweden, in 1996.http://www.childhub.ch/webpub/csechome

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Links

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ActivitiesUndertakes projects on behalf of streetchildren and Roma children (Central andEastern Europe).Information servicesProvides general background information,country fact sheets, project profiles; facilitatescontacts at NGO and local community levels.

Consortium for Street Children UK4 Bath PlaceRivington St.London EC2A 3DRTel.: +44 171 739 7917Fax: idemE-mail: cscuk@gn.apc.orgPerson(s) to contactAnita SchraderDirectorDate founded1992ScopeDeveloping world, Eastern EuropeActivitiesAn association of NGOs; provides advocacy,research and support to campaigning forchildren living and working on the street.Information servicesThrough its extensive network has access to awide range of experience and information onstreet and working children. Provides briefingand support in identifying information andcontacts. From late 1997/early 1998, will makeavailable a comprehensive legal handbook onthe defence of street and working children.

Human Rights Watch – Children’s RightsProject485 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10017-6104USA

Tel.: + 1 212 972 8405 ext. 252Fax: + 1 212 972 0905E-mail: whitman@hrw.orgPerson(s) to contactLois WhitmanDirectorDate founded1994ScopeBrazil, Bulgaria, Burma, China, Colombia,Guatemala, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia,Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan, Romania, Sudan,Turkey, UK, USAActivitiesEngages in monitoring and advocacyactivities relating to street children.Information servicesPublications related to the violation ofchildren’s rights in general; specific studies onviolence to street children, including theirarbitrary and illegal detention, torture,extortion and murder.

Plan InternationalHeadquartersChobham HouseChristchurch WayWokingSurrey GU21 1JGUnited Kingdom

Tel.: +44 1483 755155Fax: +44 1483 756505E-mail: hodges@plan.geis.comPerson(s) to contactCarys Hodges (Ms.)Information Resources Specialist

Date founded1987ScopeDonor Country Organizations in Australia,Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Japan,Republic of Korea, Netherlands, Norway,United Kingdom, USA; RegionalProgram Offices in Eastern and SouthernAfrica, the Caribbean and Central America,South Asia, South America, Southeast Asia,West Africa; 40 Country Program Offices inthese regions.ActivitiesCarries out work on the rights of streetchildren.Information servicesProvides information on Plan’s work andcopies of publications.

WOMANKIND Worldwide(Full contact details under Harmful traditionalpractices)ActivitiesUndertakes projects related to street girls

ON THE WEB: Street childrenCasa Alianza – Covenant House Latin America:http://www.casa-alianza.org

European Network on Street ChildrenWorldwide (ENSCW):http://www.knooppunt.be/~enscw/intro.html

International Labour Organisation (ILO):http://www.ilo.org

Methods of Research with Street and WorkingChildren: An Annotated Bibliography:http://www.rb.se/childwork

The UNESCO International Clearinghouse on Children and Violence on the ScreenNordicomGoteborg UniversitySprangkullsgatan 21S-411 23 GoteborgSweden

Tel.: +46 31 773 1000Fax: +46 31 773 4655E-mail: nordicom@jmg.gu.se

STOP PRESS!

CHILDREN AND VIOLENCE ON THE SCREEN

The Nordic Information Center for Media and Communication Research (Nordicom) has set up TheUNESCO International Clearinghouse on Children and Violence on the Screen. A fundamentalstarting point for its work is the Convention on the Rights of the Child, providing the perspectivewithin which violence will be considered. The Clearinghouse receives financial support fromUNESCO and the Government of Sweden. Its prime task is to make new knowledge and dataknown to prospective users – including researchers, policy makers, media professionals, teachers,voluntary organizations and interested individuals. The Clearinghouse publishes a yearbook and anewsletter – News on Children and Violence on the Screen – three times a year.

Selected Readings

1 American Psychological Association, Violence and Youth:Psychology’s Response, Vol. 1, Summary Report of theAmerican Psychological Association Commission onViolence and Youth, APA, Washington, D.C., 1993, p. 21.

2 Aptekar, L., Street Children of Calí, Duke University Press,Durham NC, 1988.

3 Asquith, S., ‘Children Who Kill Children’, in Childhood 3(1),1996, pp. 99–116.

4 Belsey, M. A., ‘Child Abuse: Measuring a Global Problem’,World Health Statistics Quarterly, World Health Organization,Vol. 46, No. 1, Geneva, 1993.

5 Boswell, G., Violent Victims: The Prevalence of Abuse andLoss in the Lives of Section 53 Offenders, The Prince’s Trust,London, 1995.

6 Borden, J. and Gibbs, S., Children Affected by OrganizedViolence: An annotated bibliography on research methods,part of the Local Research Project initiated and funded byRädda Barnen and Save the Children (UK), 1996.

7 Brett, R. and McCallin, M., Children: The Invisible Soldiers,Rädda Barnen, Stockholm, 1996.

8 Comell, D. G., ‘Causes of Juvenile Homicide: A Review ofthe Literature’, in Benedek, E. P. and Comell, D. G. (eds.),Juvenile Homicide , American Psychiatric Press,Washington, D.C., 1989.

9 David, P., La Protection des Droits de l’Enfant dans le Sport deHaute Competition, Défense des Enfants-International (DEI),Section Suisse, Geneva, 1993.

10 DeWilde, E. J., Kienhorst, I. C., Diekstra, R. F. and Wolters, W.H., ‘The Relationship between Adolescent Suicidal Behaviorand Life Events in Childhood and Adolescence’, in AmericanJournal of Psychiatry 149(1), 1992, pp. 45–51.

11 Finkelhor, D. and Dziuba-Leatherman, J., ‘Children as Victimsof Violence: A National Survey’, Pediatrics, 94(4), October1994, pp. 413–420.

12 ibid., p. 413.13 Flowers, R., Children and Criminality: The Child as Victim

and Perpetrator, Greenwood Press, New York, 1986.14 Fombonne, E., ‘Eating Disorders’, in Rutter, M. And Smith D.J.

(eds.), Psychosocial Disorders in Young People: Time Trendsand Their Causes, John Wiley and Sons, Chichester UK, 1995,pp. 616–685.

15 Fozzard, S., Surviving Violence – A Recovery Programme forChildren and Families, International Catholic Child Bureau(BICE), Geneva, 1995.

16 Freeman, M. D. A., The Rights and Wrongs of Children,Pinter, London, 1983.

17 Goldstone Commission, Report of the Advisory Panel to theGoldstone Commission Inquiry into the Effects of PublicViolence on Children, Goldstone Commission, Johannesburg,1994.

18 Gulbenkian Foundation, Children and Violence, Report of theCommission on Children and Violence convened by theGulbenkian Foundation, Gulbenkian Foundation, London,1995.

19 Heide, K., Why Kids Kill Their Parents: Child Abuse andHomicide, Sage, London, 1995.

20 Kadjar-Hamouda, E., An End to Silence: A Preliminary Studyon Sexual Violence, Abuse and Exploitation of ChildrenAffected by Armed Conflict, International Federation Terredes Holmes, Laesione, 1996.

21 Labelle, A., Bradford, J. et al., ‘Adolescent Murders’,Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, No. 36, October 1991.

22 Machel, Graça, Impact of Armed Conflict on Children,submitted to the United Nations General Assembly pursuantto General Assembly resolution 48/157, A/51/306, 26 August1996, paras. 1, 3 and 30.

23 ibid., para. 6.24 Mack, J., ‘Adolescent suicide: An Architectural Model’, in

Klerman, G. (ed.) Suicide and Depression amongAdolescents and Young Adults, American Psychiatric Press,Washington, D.C., 1986.

25 Macksoud, M., Helping Children Cope with the Stresses ofWar, UNICEF, New York, 1993.

26 National Committee on Violence, ‘Violence against Children’,third in the series Violence Today, Australian Institute ofCriminology, Canberra, 1989.

27 National Research Council (US), Panel on Research on ChildAbuse and Neglect, Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect,National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1993.

28 Newell, P., Children Are People Too – The Case AgainstPhysical Punishment , Bedford Square Press, London, 1989.

29 — One Scandal Too Many . . .The Case for ComprehensiveProtection for Children in All Settings, GulbenkianFoundation, London, 1993.

30 Olweus, D., ‘Bully/Victim Problems among Schoolchildren:Basic Facts and Effects of a School-based InterventionProgram’, in Peeler, D. and Rubin, K. (eds.), The Developmentand Treatment of Childhood Aggression, Lawrence Erlbaum,Hillsdale NJ, 1991, pp. 411–448.

31 Patrignani, A. and Villé, R., Violence in the Family, Aninternational bibliography (on diskette), United NationsInterregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI),Rome, 1995, pp. 3–5.

32 Power, D. J., ‘Homicide of Children’, Justice of Peace andLocal Government Law, 1 April 1995, pp. 209–211.

33 Rädda Barnen and EPOCH-Worldwide, Hitting People IsWrong and Children Are People too, APPROACH, London,1996.

34 Reiss, A. J. and Roth, J. A. (eds.), Understanding andPreventing Violence, National Academy Press, Washington,D.C., 1993.

35 Renvoize, J., Innocence Destroyed: A Study of Child SexualAbuse, Routledge, London, 1993.

36 SCB Statistics Sweden, Spanking and Other Forms ofPhysical Punishment: A Study of Adults’ and Middle SchoolStudents’ Opinions, Experience and Knowledge, StatisticsSweden, Stockholm, 1996.

37 Spatz Widom, C., ‘The Cycle of Violence’, US NationalInstitute of Justice Study, Research in Brief, US Department ofJustice, September 1992.

38 Villé, R., Child Abuse: Some Reflections Based on theSituation in Six European Countries, Issues and Reports 6,United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice ResearchInstitute (UNICRI), Rome, 1995.

39 Warbuton, J. and Camacho de la Cruz, M. T., A Right to22

Information sources

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Selected reading

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Happiness – Approaches to Prevention and PsychosocialRecovery of Child Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation,coordinated by the International Catholic Child Bureau (BICE),on behalf of the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rightsof the Child, Geneva, 1996.

40 Williamson, J., Selected and Annotated Bibliography on thePsychological Needs of Refugee Children, InternationalCatholic Child Bureau (BICE), Geneva, 1994.

41 World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation ofChildren, Stockholm, Sweden, 27–31 August 1996, Part I:Conference Report and Part II: Statements by Heads ofDelegation, The Host Committee for WCCSEC, Stockholm,1996, para. 5.

42 World Health Organization, Protocol for the Study of the Inter-Personal Physical Abuse of Children, WHO/FHE/CHD/94.1,Geneva, 1994.

43 World Health Organization, Report of the WHO Task Force onViolence and Health, WHO, June 1996, p. 8.

General References

44 Australian National Committee on Violence, Violence: Directionsfor Australia, National Committee on Violence, Australian Instituteof Criminology, Canberra, 1990, p. 5.

45 ibid., p. xxiv.46 Boyden, J. And Gibbs, S., Children Affected by Organized

Violence: An annotated bibliography on research methods, part ofthe “Local Research Project” initiated and funded by Rädda Barnen and Save the Children (UK), 1996.

47 Casa Alianza/Covenant House Latin America, Information foundat http://www.casa-alianza.org/aboutgua.htm on 1 June 1997.

48 Comissao Parlamentar de Inquerito, Camara dos Deputados,Brasilia, 1992.

49 deMause, L. (ed.), The History of Childhood, Bellew PublishingCo., London, 1991 (reprint of book published by Souvenir Press in1976), p. 1.

50 ibid., p. 29.51 Detrick, S. (ed.), The United Nations Convention on the Rights of

the Child: A Guide to the ‘Travaux Préparatoires’, Martinus Nijhoff,Dordrecht, 1992, p. 434.

52 Ennew, J. and Milne, B., Methods of Research with Street Children:An Annotated Bibliography, part of the ‘Local Research Project’initiated and funded by Rädda Barnen and Save the Children(UK), 1996.

53 European Human Rights Commission, Admissibility decision,Application 8811/79, 13 May 1982).

54 European Parliament, Resolution on war toys, adopted on 13September 1982.

55 Government of Italy, Declaration of the Supreme Court of Italy,Rome, 16 May 1996.

56 Government of the United Kingdom, Home Office, personalcommunication to Peter Newell, London, 1994.

57 Interpol, Missing Children Statistics, 1995–96, Interpol, Lyon, 1997.58 National Committee on Violence, Violence – Directions for Australia,

Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra, 1990, p. 5.59 Sariola, H. and Uutela, A., ‘The Prevalence and Context of Family

Violence against Children in Finland’, Child Abuse and Neglect,16(6), 1992, pp. 823–832.

60 Sariola, H. and Uutela, A., ‘The Prevalence of Child Sexual Abusein Finland’, Child Abuse and Neglect, 18(10), 1994, pp. 827–835.

61 United Nations. Committee on the Rights of the Child, ‘Summaryrecord of 176th meeting’, CRC/C/SR.176, 10 October 1994, para. 46.

62 — ‘Report on the Seventh Session, Geneva, 26 September-14October 1994’, CRC/C/34, 8 November 1994, p. 63.

63 — ‘Consideration of reports submitted by States Parties underArticle 44 of the Convention: Spain’, CRC/C/15/Add.28, 24 October1994, paras. 10 and 18.

64 — ‘Summary record of 173rd meeting: Spain’, CRC/C/SR.173, 13October 1994, para. 6.

65 — ‘Summary record of the 205th meeting: United Kingdom ofGreat Britain and Northern Ireland’, CRC/C/SR.205, 30 January1995

66 — ‘Consideration of reports submitted by States Parties underArticle 44 of the Convention: Colombia. Concluding observations’,CRC/C/15/Add.15, 7 February 1994, paras. 7 and 10.

67 — ‘Consideration of reports submitted by States Parties underArticle 44 of the Convention: Canada. CRC/C/11/Add.3, 29 July1994, para. 45.

68 — ‘Summary record of 197th meeting: Jamaica’, CRC/C/SR.197,para. 85.

69 — ‘Summary record of 140th meeting’: France, CRC/C/SR. 140,para. 33.

70 United Nations General Assembly, Report of Special Rapporteuron sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography,A/51/456, 7 October 1996.

71 United Nations Economic and Social Council, ‘Considerations ofWorking Group on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health ofWomen and Children’, E/CN.4/1986/42.

72 — ‘Considerations of 1987 Working Group of the Convention onthe Rights of the Child’ E/CN.4/1987/25, pp. 15–24.

73 US Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Delinquency andDelinquency Prevention, Factsheet on Missing Children, May 1990.

Number 1. Ombudswork for Children 1997. 20 p.This first Innocenti Digest provides information on the recent and expanding phenomenon ofombudsmen/commissioners for children. It discusses the history of ombudswork; patterns in the origin,development, mandate and status of the different types of ombudsman offices; the functions of ombudswork intheory and practice; and characteristics essential to this kind of work. The Digest also gives an assessment of theimpact of one long-established office, the Norwegian Ombudsman, showing that, despite very limited funding, ithas successfully raised the profile of children on the political agenda, enhanced acceptance of children asholders of human rights and contributed to improving the position of children in law. The Digest ends withdetails of 16 existing ombudsmen/commissioners for children and a selected bibliography on the topic.

Innocenti Digest 3 deals with the main issues connected with children and young people coming into conflictwith the law and contact with the justice system. It looks at standards and problems from arrest through to thecourt hearing and sentencing, use of custodial measures and ways of avoiding the child’s unnecessary andcounter-productive involvement with the formal justice system. It also covers prevention questions.

Up to 25 copies are available free of charge. Bulk orders over 25 copies are available at the cost of distribution and handling; please contact us for a written quotation.Send requests to: Distribution, International Child Development CentrePiazza SS. Annunziata, 1250122 Florence, ItalyTel.: +39 55 234 5258Fax: +39 55 244 817E-mail: krigoli@unicef-icdc.it

We invite comments on the content and layout of the Digest and suggestions on how it could be improved asan information tool.

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Past and future issues

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The UNICEF International ChildDevelopment Centre, often referred to as theInnocenti Centre, was established in Florence,Italy, in 1988. The Centre undertakes andpromotes policy analysis and applied research,provides a forum for international professionalexchanges of experiences, and disseminatesideas and research results emanating from itsactivities. On a highly selective basis, in areasof programme relevance, the Centre alsoprovides training and capacity-buildingopportunities for UNICEF staff andprofessionals in other institutions with whichUNICEF cooperates. The Centre is housedwithin the Spedale degli Innocenti, a foundlinghospital that has been serving abandoned orneedy children since 1445. Designed byFilippo Brunelleschi, the Spedale is one of theoutstanding architectural works of the earlyEuropean Renaissance.

Extracts from this publication may be freelyreproduced provided that due acknowledgmentis given to the source and to UNICEF.

The opinions expressed are those of theauthor and do not necessarily reflect thepolicies or views of UNICEF.

This issue of the Innocenti Digest has beencompiled principally by Peter Newell, authorof various studies on different aspects ofchildren’s rights, and since 1989 Coordinatorof the UK campaign EPOCH – End PhysicalPunishment of Children – and of itsinternational network, EPOCH-Worldwide.He is Chair of the Council of the UKChildren’s Rights Development Unit, and wasa member of and Research Coordinator for theUK Commission on Children and Violence,convened in 1994–1995 by the GulbenkianFoundation. In 1994, he was invited to be amember of the Advisory Panel to theGoldstone Commission of Inquiry intoChildren and Violence in South Africa. WithRachel Hodgkin, he has recently beencommissioned by UNICEF in Geneva toprepare an Implementation Handbook on theUnited Nations Convention on the Rights ofthe Child. He has made various presentationsto the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The Centre would like to thank all of theorganizations that provided information forthe ‘Links’ section of the Digest, and inparticular Rädda Barnen and CRIN, who verygenerously shared their resource databaseswith us.

Design: Bernard Chazine

Layout and photolythography: Bernard & Co.Siena/Italy

Printed by: Arti Grafiche Ticci - Siena/Italy

ISSN 1028–3528September 1997