Rayhan Ahmed Topader :
Ending Violence Against Children (VAC) is part of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognize that VAC is an impediment to sustainable development and acknowledges the importance of ending it. Has this contributed to a greater awareness of the issue in your country? According to the Global Status Report on Preventing Violence Against Children 2020, each year, half of the world’s children (approximately one billion) are affected by physical, sexual or psychological violence, suffering injuries, disabilities and death. The report was published in June this year by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, UNESCO, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Violence against Children and the End Violence Partnership. It charts progress in 155 countries, including Bangladesh.
In Bangladesh, there is a culture of impunity. Perpetrators of violence against children are hardly brought to justice, which contributes to continuing violence. In the past month alone, 89 percent of children (1-14 years) in Bangladesh experienced violent discipline. In addition to physical and mental violence, children of our country are subjected to rape, torture, child marriage, trafficking, abduction etc. A lack of proper coordination across departments that are responsible for children, health, education, social work etc. makes it challenging to address violence against children in a holistic way in Bangladesh. This is combined with inadequate professional capacity and limited budgetary allocations. Shouldn’t we do more and be better at ending violence against children? Between 32 percent to 37 percent people of countries considered that victims of violence could access support services. Bangladesh has also responded positively. However, the “perceived reach” is quite low; 26 percent of countries provide programmes on parent and caregiver support and 15 percent of countries had modifications to provide safe physical environments for children. Bangladesh does not have interventions in these areas. Violence is a serious violation of children’s rights, which affects their health, education and development.
This also has serious economic impacts. According to an estimate, violence against children results in a GDP loss of USD one trillion every year. The report suggests that while nearly all countries (88 percent) have key laws in place to protect children against violence, less than half of countries (47 percent) said these were being strongly enforced. The report has been published at a time when most countries are struggling to cope with Covid-19. This global pandemic is primarily a public health emergency, but it has a lot of secondary impacts on children’s education, health and protection, in the short and long run. Due to prolonged school closures, restrictions in movement and social isolation, children have lost their regular lives and support networks. Unequal gender relations and patriarchal norms are important causes of violence against women and children, and these get magnified during a humanitarian crisis, making them more vulnerable.From media compilation reports by various child and women’s rights organisa- tions and networks in Bangladesh, we have seen an increase in domestic abuse, violence against children, rapes, child marriage, cyber-crimes, trafficking etc during Covid-19. This must be considered while we respond to the crisis.The report highlights that countries have mechanisms to support national violence prevention work. But only one-fifth of the countries have fully funded national action plans or plans that include specified indicators on the prevalence of violence against children with baseline and target values.
Globally, 28 per cent of all detected victims of human trafficking are children. They are trafficked for various forms of exploitation, including sexual exploitation, forced labour, organ removal, forced marriage, or as child soldiers. Girls constitute 20 per cent of detected victims of human trafficking globally. For further materials on the trafficking of children refer to the E4J University Module Series on Trafficking in Persons, particularly Module 12 on children in trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. So much of the violence takes place in private places which is unreported or it otherwise remains invisible. There are many challenges associated with measuring the prevalence of VAC and determining who are the children that are most vulnerable. Authorities do not always have in place the necessary systems to gather that information and produce reliable statistics. One of the recommendations of the report asks governments to initiate policy dialogues to review the status of their violence against children prevention programmes with relevant stakeholders from government, NGOs and international partners. They are encouraged to use the country profiles and national recommendations included in the report as starting points.
A lack of data hinders efforts to reveal and understand the pervasive nature of VAC and limits the effectiveness of initiatives to prevent it. While there are limitations to data on the various forms of violence against children, existing statistics indicate that VAC is pervasive (UNICEF, 2014; 2014a; 2014b; 2016; 2017; UNODC, 2018). The following graphic illustrates the global prevalence of certain types of violence against children-clearly illustrating that corporal punishment is the most prevalent form of violence against children. In every society, there are groups of children that are especially vulnerable to violence and in need of special protection.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child has drawn attention to the need for particular vigilance when it comes to various marginalized groups, by providing an extensive list of children in potential vulnerable situations Especially vulnerable children include, among many others, children: not living with their biological parents, but in various forms of alternative care; not registered at birth; in street situations; in actual or perceived conflict with the law; with disabilities, with chronic illnesses or serious behavioural problems; or who are indigenous or from other ethnic minorities. Greater vigilance and enhanced protection measures are therefore required when it comes to protecting these children.
Ending Violence Against Children (VAC) is part of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognize that VAC is an impediment to sustainable development and acknowledges the importance of ending it. Has this contributed to a greater awareness of the issue in your country? According to the Global Status Report on Preventing Violence Against Children 2020, each year, half of the world’s children (approximately one billion) are affected by physical, sexual or psychological violence, suffering injuries, disabilities and death. The report was published in June this year by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, UNESCO, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Violence against Children and the End Violence Partnership. It charts progress in 155 countries, including Bangladesh.
In Bangladesh, there is a culture of impunity. Perpetrators of violence against children are hardly brought to justice, which contributes to continuing violence. In the past month alone, 89 percent of children (1-14 years) in Bangladesh experienced violent discipline. In addition to physical and mental violence, children of our country are subjected to rape, torture, child marriage, trafficking, abduction etc. A lack of proper coordination across departments that are responsible for children, health, education, social work etc. makes it challenging to address violence against children in a holistic way in Bangladesh. This is combined with inadequate professional capacity and limited budgetary allocations. Shouldn’t we do more and be better at ending violence against children? Between 32 percent to 37 percent people of countries considered that victims of violence could access support services. Bangladesh has also responded positively. However, the “perceived reach” is quite low; 26 percent of countries provide programmes on parent and caregiver support and 15 percent of countries had modifications to provide safe physical environments for children. Bangladesh does not have interventions in these areas. Violence is a serious violation of children’s rights, which affects their health, education and development.
This also has serious economic impacts. According to an estimate, violence against children results in a GDP loss of USD one trillion every year. The report suggests that while nearly all countries (88 percent) have key laws in place to protect children against violence, less than half of countries (47 percent) said these were being strongly enforced. The report has been published at a time when most countries are struggling to cope with Covid-19. This global pandemic is primarily a public health emergency, but it has a lot of secondary impacts on children’s education, health and protection, in the short and long run. Due to prolonged school closures, restrictions in movement and social isolation, children have lost their regular lives and support networks. Unequal gender relations and patriarchal norms are important causes of violence against women and children, and these get magnified during a humanitarian crisis, making them more vulnerable.From media compilation reports by various child and women’s rights organisa- tions and networks in Bangladesh, we have seen an increase in domestic abuse, violence against children, rapes, child marriage, cyber-crimes, trafficking etc during Covid-19. This must be considered while we respond to the crisis.The report highlights that countries have mechanisms to support national violence prevention work. But only one-fifth of the countries have fully funded national action plans or plans that include specified indicators on the prevalence of violence against children with baseline and target values.
Globally, 28 per cent of all detected victims of human trafficking are children. They are trafficked for various forms of exploitation, including sexual exploitation, forced labour, organ removal, forced marriage, or as child soldiers. Girls constitute 20 per cent of detected victims of human trafficking globally. For further materials on the trafficking of children refer to the E4J University Module Series on Trafficking in Persons, particularly Module 12 on children in trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. So much of the violence takes place in private places which is unreported or it otherwise remains invisible. There are many challenges associated with measuring the prevalence of VAC and determining who are the children that are most vulnerable. Authorities do not always have in place the necessary systems to gather that information and produce reliable statistics. One of the recommendations of the report asks governments to initiate policy dialogues to review the status of their violence against children prevention programmes with relevant stakeholders from government, NGOs and international partners. They are encouraged to use the country profiles and national recommendations included in the report as starting points.
A lack of data hinders efforts to reveal and understand the pervasive nature of VAC and limits the effectiveness of initiatives to prevent it. While there are limitations to data on the various forms of violence against children, existing statistics indicate that VAC is pervasive (UNICEF, 2014; 2014a; 2014b; 2016; 2017; UNODC, 2018). The following graphic illustrates the global prevalence of certain types of violence against children-clearly illustrating that corporal punishment is the most prevalent form of violence against children. In every society, there are groups of children that are especially vulnerable to violence and in need of special protection.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child has drawn attention to the need for particular vigilance when it comes to various marginalized groups, by providing an extensive list of children in potential vulnerable situations Especially vulnerable children include, among many others, children: not living with their biological parents, but in various forms of alternative care; not registered at birth; in street situations; in actual or perceived conflict with the law; with disabilities, with chronic illnesses or serious behavioural problems; or who are indigenous or from other ethnic minorities. Greater vigilance and enhanced protection measures are therefore required when it comes to protecting these children.
(Mr. Topader is a writer and columnist. Email: [email protected])
