The attitude of the society towards children is conditioned by its cultural, social, economic, and political aspects. However, violence against children is a historical phenomenon present in every society, regardless of its level of development. The responsibility lies with the state and society to enable and ensure the equality of children's rights with other members of the community and to protect children from violence, considering the fact that children cannot do this by themselves. Destructiveness of the consequences of violence against children indicates the necessity of a systematic fight against this phenomenon. The subject of this paper is to present the etiology of violence against children, i.e., the causes influencing the influx of violence against children, as well as the phenomenological aspect of this occurrence. In this context, this paper aims to indicate the causes, characteristics, and manifestations of violence against children through the presentation of empirical knowledge. The forms of violence against children overlap, but it is necessary to distinguish them in order to create more effective measures of their prevention and suppression.
INTRODUCTION: Globally 1 billion children are exposed to violence every year. The Violence Against Children Surveys (VACS) are nationally representative surveys of males and females ages 13-24 that are intended to measure the burden of sexual, physical and emotional violence experienced in childhood, adolescence and young adulthood. It is important to document the methodological approach and design of the VACS to better understand the national estimates that are produced in each country, which are used to drive violence prevention efforts. METHODS: This study describes the surveys' target population, sampling design, statistical considerations, data collection process, priority violence indicators and data dissemination. RESULTS: Twenty-four national household surveys have been completed or are being planned in countries across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America, and Eastern Europe. The sample sizes range from 891 to 7912 among females (72%-98% response rate) and 803-2717 among males (66%-98% response rate). Two face-to-face interviews are conducted: a Household and an Individual Questionnaire. A standard set of core priority indicators are generated for each country that range from prevalence of different types of violence, contexts, risk and protective factors, and health consequences. Results are disseminated through various platforms to expand the reach and impact of the survey results. CONCLUSION: Data obtained through VACS can inform development and implementation of effective prevention strategies and improve health service provision for all who experience violence. VACS serves as a standardised tool to inform and drive prevention through high-quality, comprehensive data.
Kimberly H. Nguyen, Howard C. Kress, Andrés Villaveces et al.
Despite the extent and magnitude of violence against children in South Africa, political and financial investments to prevent violence against children remain low. A recent costing study investigating the social burden and economic impact of violence against children in South Africa found notable reductions to mental and physical health outcomes in the population if children were prevented from experiencing violence, neglect and witnessing family violence. The results showed, among others, that drug abuse in the entire population could be reduced by up to 14% if sexual violence against children could be prevented, self-harm could be reduced by 23% in the population if children did not experience physical violence, anxiety could be reduced by 10% if children were not emotionally abused, alcohol abuse could be reduced by 14% in women if they did not experience neglect as children, and lastly, interpersonal violence in the population could be reduced by 16% if children did not witness family violence. The study further estimated that the cost of inaction in 2015 amounted to nearly 5% of the country's gross domestic product. These findings show that preventing children from experiencing and witnessing violence can help to strengthen the health of a nation by ensuring children reach their full potential and drive the country's economy and growth. The paper further discusses ways in which preventing and ending violence against children may be prioritised in South Africa through, for instance, intersectoral collaboration and improving routine monitoring data, such as through the sustainable development goals.
Celia Hsiao, Deborah Ann Fry, Catherine L. Ward et al.
OBJECTIVE: Social isolation is currently identified as the best way to prevent the infection by the new coronavirus. However, for some social groups, such as children and adolescents, this measure carries a contradiction: the home, which should be the safest place for them, is also a frequent environment of a sad aggravation: domestic violence. This study aims to evaluate the notifications of interpersonal/self-inflicted violence available in the Information System for Notifiable Diseases in the State of Santa Catarina (southern Brazil), for the juvenile age group, before and during the new coronavirus pandemics. METHODS: Cross-sectional, descriptive study of violence against children and adolescents (from 0 to 19 years) notified by health professionals by completing and entering the occurrence in the Information System for Notifiable Diseases of the State of Santa Catarina in 11 weeks in which the social isolation measure was instituted as mandatory, comparing with the same period before this measure. RESULTS: During the study period, 136 municipalities in Santa Catarina made 1,851 notifications. There was a decrease of 55.3% of them in the isolation period, and the difficulties encountered in seeking protection and assistance institutions were listed. CONCLUSIONS: The society needs to be aware of possible cases of violence in the children and adolescent population. It is important to provide accessible, effective, and safe ways for complaints and notifications, as well as a quick response to the cases, aiming at protecting victims and minimizing damages to prevent the perpetuation of the violence.
Vanessa Borges Platt, Jucélia Maria Guedert, Elza Berger Salema Coelho
OBJECTIVE: present and discuss the potential use of the concept of vulnerability for the development of practices to address violence against children. METHOD: this is a theoretical study that presents the characteristics of the phenomenon of violence against children, to which the concept of vulnerability is applied. RESULTS: proposal of a framework for the analysis of violence against children in the perspective of vulnerability, creating individual and collective dimensions. Violence against children, when analyzed in the perspective of this concept, broadens the understanding of this phenomenon, as it exposes aspects and conditions from outside the family that are co-responsible for the occurrence of this phenomenon. CONCLUSION: developing studies to identify the vulnerability of children to violence is essential for the development of practices to address this issue.
Paula Hino, Renata Ferreira Takahashi, Lúcia Yasuko Izumi Nichiata et al.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the reasons for the lack of priority given to addressing violence against children, and to identify the challenges that proponents must address to improve prioritization of this issue. METHODS: We reviewed relevant literature to identify experts to interview. We carried out a thematic analysis of the literature and interview transcripts. We iteratively developed data coding on the many characteristics of violence against children, on the framing of the issue by proponents, and on the problem of governance - that is, how proponents organize themselves for collective action. FINDINGS: The analysis of our data sources reveals many obstacles for global prioritization of addressing violence against children, including the forms of violence considered, inadequate data to describe prevalence and a lack of evidence of the effectiveness of proposed solutions. There exists fundamental disagreement among proponents on the recently introduced frame of violence against children, including differences in the types of violence that should be prioritized and in the proposed solutions (e.g. prevention or remediation). On governance, competition between networks focused on specific forms of violence is hampering efforts to create strong governing institutions. CONCLUSION: Despite the complex challenges identified, proponents have made some progress in global prioritization of addressing violence against children. To improve this prioritization further, proponents must resolve framing tensions and strengthen governance mechanisms to promote shared goals, while ensuring that networks focused on particular forms of violence are able to maintain their distinct identities.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected children's risk of violence in their homes, communities and online, and has compromised the ability of child protection systems to promptly detect and respond to cases of violence. However, the need to strengthen violence prevention and response services has received insufficient attention in national and global pandemic response and mitigation strategies. In this paper, we summarize the growing body of evidence on the links between the pandemic and violence against children. Drawing on the World Health Organization's INSPIRE framework to end violence against children, we illustrate how the pandemic is affecting prevention and response efforts. For each of the seven INSPIRE strategies we identify how responses to the pandemic have changed children's risk of violence. We offer ideas for how governments, policy-makers, and international and civil society organizations can address violence in the context of a protracted COVID-19 crisis. We conclude by highlighting how the current pandemic offers opportunities to improve existing child protection systems to address violence against children. We suggest enhanced multisectoral coordination across the health, education, law enforcement, housing, child and social protection sectors. Actions need to prioritize the primary prevention of violence and promote the central role of children and adolescents in decision-making and programme design processes. Finally, we stress the continued need for better data and evidence to inform violence prevention and response strategies that can be effective during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amiya Bhatia, Camilla Fabbri, Ilan Cerna-Turoff et al.
Importance: Sexual violence against children is a global concern, yet worldwide figures of its prevalence are scant. Objective: To estimate the global prevalence of sexual violence against children using national-level population-based studies. Data Sources: We searched the PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, PsycINFO, ERIC, and APA PsycArticles databases from their respective inceptions to March 2022. Searches were updated through April 2024. Study Selection: Reports were included if (1) they were national-level population-based studies, (2) they reported lifetime or past-year prevalence data on any form of sexual violence against children (mean age ≤19 years), and (3) the data were based on children's self-reports of sexual violence perpetrated by anyone. Data Extraction and Synthesis: Data extraction included study and participant characteristics, prevalence rates, and types of sexual violence. Outcomes were pooled using a random-effects model. Exploratory subgroup analyses were performed with categorical moderators. Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcomes included lifetime and past-year prevalence of forced sexual intercourse, contact sexual violence, and sexual harassment. Results: We identified 165 studies that included 958 182 children from 80 countries, with the majority of data focusing on girls (58.2%). The sample sizes of the studies ranged from 330 to 132 948; the mean age ranged from 10.5 to 19.4 years. Lifetime sexual harassment was the most prevalent outcome, with a pooled rate of 11.4% (95% CI, 8.5%-15.1%), followed by any contact sexual violence, with a rate of 8.7% (95% CI, 4.7%-15.5%). Furthermore, 6.1% (95% CI, 5.1%-7.3%) of children reported experiencing completed forced sexual intercourse in their lifetime, and 1.3% (95% CI, 1.0%-1.7%) reported experiencing it in the preceding year. Rates of lifetime completed forced sexual intercourse were higher among girls (6.8% [95% CI, 6.1%-7.6%]) compared with boys (3.3% [95% CI, 2.5%-4.3%]), similar to past-year violence (2.3% [95% CI 1.9%-2.7%] for girls and 0.6% [95% CI 0.4%-0.9%] for boys). We found considerable variation across regions and countries in the reported prevalence of sexual violence. Older age of children, lower national income levels, and the use of school-based surveys were associated with higher rates of sexual violence reporting in some exploratory analyses. Conclusions and Relevance: The findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis highlight the burden of sexual violence against children worldwide based on current available evidence. There is a pressing need to enhance data collection efforts globally, especially in underresearched regions and for boys. Study Registration: PROSPERO CRD42022327090.
Antonio Piolanti, Iason E. Schmid, Fabian J. Fiderer et al.
Violence against children is a dynamic, changing social phenomenon. Every society, regardless of the level of development of democracy, economic and political development, regardless of the level of protection of human rights, encounters violence against children on a daily basis. The first professional interests in violence against children were made between the two world wars, but the first active measures to oppose it appeared in the mid-sixties of the twentieth century, in the most developed countries. In the 21st century, the countries of the "third world" remain in a civilizational, cultural, value cocoon. No matter how impossible and imaginary it may seem, in some countries, violence against children is still denied as a social phenomenon and a deviation. The negation of violence does not stem from the circumstance that the child is not physically and mentally punished, but that this "punishment" is justified for the purpose of good upbringing, tradition and similar found excuses. For many years, this attitude has been held in many post-communist states, states that have been isolated for decades, either because of politics or because of religion. However, with the globalization of society, the inevitable opening of borders, but also under great assets whose affirmation of ordinary organizations, primarily at the global and then at the state level, the topic of "violence against children" slowly gained its epilogue. Today, in 2021, violence against children is an open topic in most communities. There are no more taboos. And no turning heads from violence. Of course, there are exceptions, but the world is full of rules with some exceptions. The paper deals with two aspects: global and national, specifically the Republic of Serbia. The paper deals with the definition of the concept of the child, types of violence, legal acts regulating the rights of the child, applied measures, but also proposals for measures and moves to take exceptions (those who deny the existence of violence against children, those who it doesn't matter…) be if not zeroed, and at least minimized.
There is promising evidence that poverty-targeted cash transfer programs can have positive impacts on adolescent transitions to adulthood in resource poor settings, however existing research is typically from small scale programs in diverse geographic and cultural settings. We provide estimates of the impact of a national unconditional cash transfer program, the Kenya Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, on pregnancy and early marriage among females aged 12 to 24, four years after program initiation. The evaluation was designed as a clustered randomized controlled trial and ran from 2007 to 2011, capitalizing on the existence of a control group, which was delayed entry to the program due to budget constraints. Findings indicate that, among 1,549 females included in the study, while the program reduced the likelihood of pregnancy by five percentage points, there was no significant impact on likelihood of early marriage. Program impacts on pregnancy appear to work through increasing the enrollment of young women in school, financial stability of the household and delayed age at first sex. The Kenyan program is similar in design to most other major national cash transfer programs in Eastern and Southern Africa, suggesting a degree of generalizability of the results reported here. Although the objective of the program is primarily poverty alleviation, it appears to have an important impact on facilitating the successful transition of adolescent girls into adulthood.
Amber Peterman, Sudhanshu Handa, Harsha Thirumurthy et al.
