violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

“I remember being a foster child on another reserve as a child. I had been strapped…never understoodthe reasons why or what I had done wrong, I do remember the fear and pain.”Youth leader, North America, 2005 XI3the healthy or unhealthy bonds between thechild and other family members.When alternative care is necessaryRemoving a child from the family should be alast-resort intervention. Ideally, services shouldbe available to support those parents who arefailing to cope with the demands of parenting.Only when the child appears to be at immediaterisk of significant harm, the parent isassessed as not responding to other interventions,or appears unable to change within thedevelopmental time frame of the child, shouldlong-term alternatives (i.e. long-term fosteringor adoption) be considered.A child who is separated from the family environmentfor his or her own best interest isentitled to special protection and assistance;furthermore, States are obliged to ensure somesuitable form of alternative care for a childin these circumstances, giving due regard tomaintaining continuity in a child’s upbringingand to the child’s ethnic, religious, culturaland linguistic background (CRC article 20).Alternative care can be provided both formally– through foster-care placement (kafalah careunder Islamic law), and adoption – and informally,such as the placement of a child withthe extended family. Three principles shouldguide decisions about alternative forms of carefor children: 202• Family-based solutions are generallypreferable to institutional placements• Sustainable solutions aimed atpermanency in the best interests of thechild, but including regular review,should take precedence over temporarysolutions• National solutions are generallypreferable to those involving anothercountry (e.g. international adoption).All forms of alternative care involve risk for thechild, including risk of further violence, exploitationand other violations of the child’s rights.It is therefore important that States registerand regulate all forms of alternative care, withcontinuous monitoring of children’s placementand treatment, and with the full participationof the child. (See also the chapter on violenceagainst children in care and justice systems.)Advocacy and publiceducationViolence against children in the home andfamily receives little media and research attentionworldwide compared to issues such ascommercial sexual exploitation of children, orchild labour. The media play a central role inshaping opinions and influencing social normsthat can also affect behaviour. Violence againstchildren in the home and family should bebrought into the public sphere in every region;space must be created to discuss the issues andto find solutions. Without raising awareness, itwill be difficult to achieve large-scale and lastingprevention, and behavioural change.An important development of recent years, andone promoted by the Study process, has been theinvolvement of children themselves in research,and in advocacy based on such research. Childrenpointed out in Regional Consultations thatthey normally had no opportunity to articulate87Violence against children in the home and family