Citation

Pinheiro PS. Cien. Saude Colet. 2006; 11(2): 453-460.

Affiliation

Watson Institute, Brown University, USA. (pinheiro@sgsvac.org)

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Associacao Brasileira de Pos-Graduacao em Saude Coletiva)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In 2003 I was appointed by the UN Secretary-General as his Independent Expert to conduct a study with the support of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), UNICEF and WHO. The study will provide an in-depth global picture of violence against children and propose clear recommendations for the improvement of legislation, policy and programmes relating to the prevention of and responses to violence against children. The study will document the magnitude, incidence and consequences of various types of violence against children.

The study will be guided by international human rights treaties, in particular the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the jurisprudence of its Committee, and other human rights treaty bodies. The focus of the study will be on children as victims of violence, although some attention will be paid to children as perpetrators of violence against other children. The role of men and boys as advocates against violence and as agents for change will also be considered.

The concept of violence reflected in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, especially in articles 19, 34 and 37, other human rights treaties and human rights instruments, such as the 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, will also inform the study. In accordance with article 19 of the Convention and the work of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, violence, for the purposes of the study, will include all forms of physical or mental violence, injury and abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse. The study will also be underpinned by the general definition of child abuse agreed by the experts participating in the WHO Consultation on Child Abuse Prevention in 1999. That definition reads child abuse or maltreatment constitutes all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child's health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power.

The study will seek to provide an understanding of the nature, extent, causes and consequences of different forms of violence against children, taking into account the various settings in which violence takes place. It will pay special attention to violence against children in the family, adopting a broad and comprehensive approach. Consideration will also be given to other settings, both public and private, where violence against children occurs: schools, including military schools; religious institutions; care and residential institutions; detention facilities and prisons; in sports; on the streets; and in work situations. Violence in the context of the administration of justice will be addressed, with emphasis on corporal and capital punishment as well as maltreatment and torture. The causes and consequences of violence against children will be addressed, and the systems, structures and social realities that lie behind violence and its linkages to poverty and globalization will be explored. The costs of violence against children to society, including perpetuation of the cycle of violence, will also be considered.

For more information and a copy of the 2007 Progress Report: http://www.violencestudy.org/

Language: en