As the world marks Universal Children’s Day today, UNICEF is urging much stronger attention to be paid to the millions of children around the world, in every country and at every social level of society who are victims of violence and abuse that continue to go unnoticed and under-reported.
A release from UNICEF, noted that data from the Guyana Child Care and Protection Agency indicated that for the period January to June 2013 there were 1,717 reported cases of abuse involving children. Of those cases, 59 per cent involved girls and 41 per cent involved boys. It said that however, many cases of abuse go unreported. It is estimated that less than 50 per cent of all cases of violence and abuse against children are reported. Thirty-six per cent of all reported cases of abuse were reports of sexual and physical abuse.
UNICEF’s Executive Director Anthony Lake said, “Too often, abuse occurs in the shadows: undetected, unreported, and – even worse – too often accepted. We all have a responsibility to ‘make the invisible, visible’ – from the governments enacting and enforcing laws to prohibit violence against children, to private citizens refusing to be silent when they witness or suspect abuse.”
When UNICEF launch-ed the ‘End Violence Against Children’ campaign earlier this year, it said that violence against children is everywhere. But people turn a blind eye. It is hidden behind closed doors. It is invisible. All children have the right to live free from violence, which harms their physical and mental growth and holds back every society.
Violence against children takes many forms, including domestic violence, sexual assault, and harsh disciplinary practices.
According to the release, the Executive Director said, “Violence against children does more than harm individual children, it undermines the fabric of society, affecting productivity, well-being, and prosperity. No society can afford to ignore violence against children.”
The ‘End Violence Against Children’ initiative urged public acknowledgement of the problems of violence against children saying that it is entirely preventable when people come together and say that it is not acceptable. It encourages support and engagement with local movements to address this compelling global issue
UNICEF said there are approaches that work to prevent and respond to violence against children. These include supporting parents, families and others who care for children; strengthening children’s skills to help protect themselves from violence; explicitly working to change attitudes and social norms that tolerate violence and discrimination; and strengthening and enforcing policies and laws that protect children.
In 1954, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the first Universal Children’s Day. November 20, observed as Universal Children’s Day by many countries marks the day on which the General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959; and the Convention of the Rights of the Child in 1989, the first legally binding international convention to affirm human rights for all children. It specifies that every child, everywhere, has the right to survive, grow and be protected from all forms of violence, the release added.
This year is the 54th anniversary of the Declaration and the 24th anniversary of the Convention.
