Navigating Violent Spaces

This chapter looks at violence experienced by children in alternative care, from large orphanages to family-based care such as foster care. It uses a polyvictimization framework, which considers the many kinds of violence a child can face. It describes risks before children enter care, during care, and after they age out of care. It also discusses policy implications, including stronger protective policies, more research and better training and resourcing for caregivers.

Key points

• Children in alternative care experience unacceptable rates of violence before entering care, during care, and potentially after leaving care.
• Before entering care, children are often exposed to violence at home through abuse or neglect, or in their wider community.
• Children face increased risks of violence across the whole continuum of alternative care, from orphanages to foster care.
• Institutional care heightens the risk of trafficking both into and out of orphanages.
• Policy implications include strengthening protective policies, more research on the context and scope of violence against children, and better training and resourcing for caregivers.

Limitations

Only the abstract is available, so we cannot see the evidence, data sources or methods behind the claims. No specific countries or settings are identified, and no intervention is evaluated.