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14,037 reports · page 1123 of 1404
Violence against children, as well as international legal instruments adopted to protect children from violence, have become one of the most important issues of state policy in our country aimed at safeguarding children from abuse.
Karimova Oysha Vali kizi
For young children to attain their full potential, they need the five inter-related and indivisible components of nurturing care: adequate nutrition, good health, safety and security, responsive caregiving and opportunities for learning. Provision for nurture care in the early years of life of the child is enhanced by close family members. This explains why secure environments are important for young children and this begins at conception. Teenage mothers undergo a lot of stressful moments during pregnancy periods due to societal norms and community attitude towards them. This has led to family and social rejection thus affecting the unborn child and the development of the child even before birth. This study will investigate ways of enhancing early intervention for the children who belong to teenage mothers to ensure a safe environment before and after birth. This calls for a multidisciplinary approach by all stakeholders to approach the issue of handling teenage mothers during pregnancy and after to ensure that they are social economically empowered. Social empowerment includes creating awareness of the risk of increasing number of young children from teenagers, majority of them come from poor backgrounds. Sensitization is important to all community members and the affected girls for acceptance and support to secure the life of the young children. A secure environment can enhance good nutrition, antenatal care, less rejection and avoidance of forced abortion, early marriages will result in better child growth and development before and after. The stakeholders should assess best practices to enhance social economic empowerment of teenage mothers for them to be well empowered and to bring up their children holistically. The study will be based on ecological models and data will be collected through meta-analysis from literature review and successful stories from the teenage mothers.
Elizabeth Mukai Kithuka
OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of recent physical, sexual, and emotional violence against children 0 - 19 years of age in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) by age, sex, and perpetrator. METHODS: A systematic review and analysis of published literature and large international datasets was conducted. Eligible sources from first record to December 2015 contained age-, sex-, and perpetrator-specific data from LAC. Random effects meta-regressions were performed, adjusting for relevant quality covariates and differences in violence definitions. RESULTS: Seventy-two surveys (2 publications and 70 datasets) met inclusion criteria, representing 1 449 estimates from 34 countries. Prevalence of physical and emotional violence by caregivers ranged from 30% - 60%, and decreased with increasing age. Prevalence of physical violence by students (17% - 61%) declined with age, while emotional violence remained constant (60% - 92%). Prevalence of physical intimate partner violence (IPV) ranged from 13% - 18% for girls aged 15 - 19 years. Few or no eligible past-year estimates were available for any violence against children less than 9 years and boys 16 - 19 years of age; sexual violence against boys (any age) and girls (under 15 years); IPV except for girls aged 15 - 19 years; and violence by authority figures (e.g., teachers) or via gangs/organized crime. CONCLUSION: Past-year physical and emotional violence by caregivers and students is widespread in LAC across all ages in childhood, as is IPV against girls aged 15 - 19 years. Data collection must be expanded in LAC to monitor progress towards the sustainable development goals, develop effective prevention and response strategies, and shed light on violence relating to organized crime/gangs.
Karen M. Devries, Katherine G. Merrill, Louise Knight et al.
OBJECTIVE: To identify policies and programs adopted by a Brazilian municipality to address violence against children during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: A qualitative documentary study. The study setting was the municipality of Ananindeua, Pará, Brazil. Data was collected from official websites between November 2021 and February 2022. Thematic content analysis was used with the support of webQDA software. RESULTS: Three empirical categories emerged: a) Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on violence against children; b) Action strategies for tackling violence against children in the COVID-19 pandemic; c) Evaluation indicators and targets for action strategies for tackling violence against children. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: The documents revealed few direct mentions of children, especially traditional populations; they presented superficial and ineffective evaluations of the policies and programs adopted, using exclusively quantitative indicators.
Ana Tereza Torquato de Morais Navarro, Lucimara Fabiana Fornari, Emiko Yoshikawa Egry et al.
Experiencing food insecurity in early childhood is associated with adverse health and nutrition outcomes. About 66% of Brazilian households with children are food insecure; however, interventions targeting early childhood have fallen short in addressing food insecurity due to a lack of funding and multisectoral coordination combined with the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, protecting children from food insecurity is a complex task in Brazil and requires innovative approaches. We hypothesize that applying a Nurturing Care Framework (NCF) lens and systems thinking tools can indicate pragmatic pathways to reduce early childhood food insecurity. To examine this hypothesis, we used a participatory group model-building approach to integrate the knowledge of twelve Brazilian experts working in different sectors into a qualitative causal loop diagram (CLD) underlying the dynamics of food insecurity in early childhood. By analyzing the CLD, we aimed (1) to assess whether the Brazilian food insecurity system includes the NCF components and identify how these systems affect young children, and (2) to qualitatively explore feedback loops, pivotal variables (i.e., variables with the most immediate causes and/or immediate causal consequences), and leverage points (i.e., specific variables to intervene to produce a change in the overall system) to reduce food insecurity in early childhood. The integrated CLD outlines a structure with 28 variables assigned across the NCF components. A deeper qualitative analysis of the direct and indirect links identified how food insecurity is experienced by young children. This included a description of two feedback loops reinforcing childhood food insecurity, such as Financial Hardships and Emotional Distress Spiral. Food quality emerged as the pivotal variable with the most proximate causes and/or consequences related to early childhood food insecurity. Positive parenting practices and participation in daycare emerged as direct links to address early childhood food insecurity. Expanding access to nurturing care through national and local policies can enhance the resilience of the systems underlying early childhood food insecurity to disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gabriela Buccini, Krystyna Anne Stave, Katherine E. Marçal et al.
OBJECTIVE: To describe the potentialities and limits in confronting situations of violence against children and adolescents seen from the perspective of Guardianship Counselors. METHOD: Qualitative research, developed with 18 Guardianship Counselors from two municipalities in the central region of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Data were generated between June and July 2021, using the focus group technique, and were subjected to thematic content analysis. RESULTS: The following were identified as potentialities for combating violence against children and adolescents: denunciations; networking; and media coverage. As limits, we have: naturalization of violence; pandemic of the Covid-19; de-structuring of the intersectoral network; lack of training; and difficulty in developing preventive actions. CONCLUSION: The Guardianship Councilors require training to act in cases of violence against children and adolescents, as well as support from other sectors, such as health, education, public safety, and social assistance, in order to fully attend to these cases.
Aline Cammarano Ribeiro, Fernanda Ilha Pedroso, Jaqueline Arboit et al.
BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence against women (IPV) and violence against children (VAC) are both global epidemics with long-term health consequences. The vast majority of research to date focuses on either IPV or VAC, however the intersections between these types of violence are a growing area of global attention. A significant need exists for empirical research on the overlap of IPV and VAC, especially in contexts with particularly high rates of both types of violence. METHODS: This exploratory study includes secondary analysis of data from a cluster randomized controlled trial in Ugandan schools. Using baseline reports from a random sample of early adolescents attending school and their caregivers, this study uses a probability sample across all eligible schools of adolescent-caregiver dyads (n = 535). We categorized adolescent-caregiver dyads into four groups: those reporting VAC 'only', IPV 'only', both VAC and IPV, or 'no violence'. Two separate multinomial logistic regression models for male and female caregivers explored adolescent and caregiver characteristics associated with the VAC 'only', the IPV 'only', or the both VAC and IPV dyads, each compared to the 'no violence' dyad. RESULTS: One third of dyads reported both IPV and VAC and nearly 75% of dyads reported VAC or IPV. Dyads reporting IPV were more likely to also report VAC. Common contributing factors for female caregiver-adolescent dyads with both VAC and IPV include lower SES, less caregiver education, higher caregiver mental distress, more frequent caregiver alcohol use, and caregivers who report less emotional attachment to their intimate partner. Male caregiver-adolescent dyads with both VAC and IPV included caregivers with less emotional attachment to their intimate partner and more attitudes accepting VAC. CONCLUSIONS: Findings reveal a significant overlap of IPV and VAC and the importance for violence prevention and response programming to consider coordinated or integrated programming. Unique results for female and male caregivers highlight the importance of a gendered approach to addressing IPV and VAC intersections. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01678846, on September 5, 2012.
Catherine Carlson, Sophie Namy, Andrea Norcini Pala et al.
Introduction: The Nurturing Care Framework (NCF) describes "nurturing care" as the ability of nations and communities to support caregivers and provide an environment that ensures children's good health and nutrition, protects them from threats, and provides opportunities for early learning through responsive and emotionally supportive interaction. We assessed the extent to which Kenyan government policies address the components of the NCF and explored policy/decision makers' views on policy gaps and emerging issues. Methods: A search strategy was formulated to identify policy documents focusing on early childhood development (ECD), health and nutrition, responsive caregiving, opportunities for early learning and security and safety, which are key components of the NCF. We limited the search to policy documents published since 2010 when the Kenya constitution was promulgated and ECD functions devolved to county governments. Policy/decision-maker interviews were also conducted to clarify emerging gaps from policy data. Data was extracted, coded and analyzed based on the components of the NCF. Framework analysis was used for interview data with NCF being the main framework of analysis. The Jaccard's similarity coefficient was used to assess similarities between the themes being compared to further understand the challenges, successes and future plans of policy and implementation under each of the NCF domains. Results: = 66 were included in final analysis. The 66 documents included 47 County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs) and 19 national policy documents. Twenty policy/decision-maker interviews were conducted. Analysis of both policy and interview data reveal that, while areas of health and nutrition have been considered in policies and county level plans (coefficients >0.5), the domains of early learning, responsive caregiving and safety and security face significant policy and implementation gaps (coefficients ≤ 0.5), particularly for the 0-3 year age group. Inconsistencies were noted between county level implementation plans and national policies in areas such as support for children with disabilities and allocation of budget to early learning and nutrition domains. Conclusion: Findings indicate a strong focus on nutrition and health with limited coverage of responsive caregiving and opportunities for early learning domains. Therefore, if nurturing care goals are to be achieved in Kenya, policies are needed to support current gaps identified with urgent need for policies of minimum standards that provide support for improvements across all Nurturing Care Framework domains.
Mary Abboah‐Offei, Patrick Amboka, Margaret Nampijja et al.
Background: The period from 12 to 36 months represents a critical window for child development, yet the relationship between nurturing care practices and developmental outcomes during acute illness remains poorly understood. This study aimed to determine the relationship between maternal nurturing care practices and the developmental status of acutely ill children aged 12-36 months in Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study was conducted among 70 mother-child pairs recruited through consecutive sampling. Maternal nurturing care practices were assessed using a modified questionnaire adapted from UNICEF Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices tools. Child development was evaluated using the Indonesian Pre-Screening Development Questionnaire (KPSP). Maternal depression was measured using the Beck Depression Inventory-II. Data were analyzed using Fisher's exact test, with statistical significance set at p<0.05. Results: The majority of mothers (57.1%) demonstrated poor nurturing care practices, while 84.3% of acutely ill children showed age-appropriate development. Most mothers (80.0%) were aged 20-35 years, had secondary education (50.0%), and were not experiencing depression (68.6%). Fever was the most common acute illness (44.3%), with a median duration of 3 days. No statistically significant association was found between maternal nurturing care practices and child development status (p=0.331, OR=2.250, 95% CI: 0.543-9.330). Additionally, established developmental predictors including maternal education (p=0.745), family economic status (p=1.000), and maternal depression (p=0.873) showed no significant associations with developmental outcomes. Conclusion: These findings highlight the need for context-specific nurturing care assessment tools and longitudinal research designs to better understand the complex dynamics between caregiving practices, acute illness, and developmental outcomes in young children.
Amalina Batrisyia Agustin, Fitri Haryanti, Ika Parmawati et al.
BACKGROUND: Only recently have research and policy begun to shine a light on the magnifying effects of EWEs (Extreme Weather Events) on children's exposure to violence. However, the links between EWEs and VAC (Violence against Children) remain under-theorised, poorly understood and often unacknowledged in policy and practice. OBJECTIVE: Identify, synthesize and analyse available evidence on the central characteristics and factors influencing the relationship between VAC and EWEs. METHODS: We conducted an extensive scoping review of the literature (academic and grey) to identify existing research and gaps in knowledge. Using flexible and iteratively developed search terms enabled us to identify direct violence - physical, sexual and emotional - and structural violence, rooted in inequitable and unjust systems and institutions. RESULTS: The relationship between VAC and EWEs is linked to gender; climate-induced mobility or immobility; child labour; and health. We found that VAC can intensify during EWEs, but the nature of this relationship is contextually specific. The relationship between VAC and EWEs is rooted in historical injustices, global systems and structures, and therefore disproportionately affects those living in poverty. CONCLUSION: Studies have uncovered how increasing social, economic and emotional pressures following EWEs increase children's violence risk exposure. This may occur in their homes or in relief shelters. The violence may involve peers, or forms of hazardous labour that young people are compelled into because of the sudden need for families to rebuild or help make ends meet. More knowledge is needed to inform integrated, context-specific and culturally sensitive plans to better protect children from the consequences of EWEs.
Simone Datzberger, Lottie Howard‐Merrill, Colin Murray Parkes et al.
