Ending violence against children: Translating data into action | WPN World People News

Ways to translate data on violence against boys and girls into concrete measures to stop it will be discussed at a global meeting to be held in the capital of Swaziland, 28-30 May 2014.

The meeting is organized by the Government of the Kingdom of Swaziland, UNICEF and the Together for Girls partnership, with support from the U.S government, under the theme: ‘From research to action: Advancing prevention and response to violence against children’. It brings together key government and civil society representatives from 20 countries as well as experts from multiple sectors working on the topics of social protection and violence prevention and response.

The participating countries, mostly from Africa but also Asia and the Caribbean, are already testing and implementing strategies to prevent and respond to violence against children with support from Together for Girls’ partners, including UNICEF and the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

“Violence against children not only violates the rights of children but also brings long-term pain to the victims and their families thereby undermining their potential for national development,” said Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Swaziland, Senator Paul Dlamini.

The Government of Swaziland spearheaded this global work to end violence against children in 2007, in partnership with UNICEF and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), when it undertook the first national-level household survey on adolescent girls’ experience of sexual violence. The survey discovered a number of negative short- and long-term consequences, from increased risk for HIV infections and unwanted pregnancies to alcohol abuse and suicide.

The success of this collaboration led to the formation of the public-private partnership, Together for Girls, which enabled additional countries to conduct national surveys on violence against children and use the data to mobilize a strong national response across sectors.

“Violence against children is not only a severe human rights violation, it’s also a public health issue of vast proportions,” said Gary Cohen, Together for Girls Founder and Executive Vice President at BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company). “It’s an underlying driver of many of the world’s most intractable health problems, which has not been widely understood.”

To date, nine countries have undertaken national surveys and are in various stages of implementing a response. Seven other countries are making preparations to begin the process. In sub-Saharan Africa, the surveys have found about 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 7 boys experienced sexual violence and more than half of both boys and girls experienced physical violence prior to age 18.

“To end the global problem of violence against children, we need to know more about where it is occurring and why — and then use that data to change minds and behaviours, and to drive action by governments and communities themselves,” said Susan Bissell, UNICEF’s Chief of Child Protection. “Every child has the right to live free from violence and abuse, and every one of us has a responsibility to help children everywhere to realize that right.”

Source: United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund