violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

“I am disabled and I hate children {who} tell me so.”Child, of 8-10 years, South Asia, 2005 XI4sexes, they help to sustain cultures of bullyingand sexual and gender-based violence. 141In the Americas, South Africa and placesof violent civil conflict such as Nepal andSierra Leone, however, much of the violenceamong children in schools enters from theviolent world surrounding the schools. Socialupheaval and displacement combined with lowacademic achievement may lead to studentsbecoming violent. In the Occuppied PalestinianTerritory and Algeria, boys who transferfrom other schools and repeat grades are moreprone to violence than their peers. 142There is evidence to suggest that fierce peercompetition, gender-based violence and gangviolence within schools are all, to some extent,related to the stresses that go with modernisationand industrialisation. These phenomenaare all more commonly reported from theurban areas of industrialised or rapidly industrialisingcountries than from rural areas ofless developed countries. Country responsesto questionnaires distributed to Governmentsby this Study indicate that countries in rapidlyindustrialising regions, such as East Asia,are just beginning to become concerned aboutbullying and other forms of violence amongchildren. 143Children who are vulnerableto violenceChildren’s vulnerability to violence changesas they grow older. During infancy and youngchildhood the child’s cognitive ability is lessdeveloped and activity level is high, so trainingto avoid danger and self-harm or to behavein a manner acceptable to adults is more likelyto be administered by threats, slaps and otherphysical means. 144 As early as pre-school age,children develop attitudes to others, includingdiscriminatory attitudes, and these tendto become more pronounced during primaryschool, perhaps evolving into bullying (or beingvictimised). There may also be gender-basedviolence of a verbal nature at early ages, and itmay evolve until, towards or after puberty, itbecomes threats of physical violence. Simon’sstory illustrates how each child’s experience ofviolence is unique but changes over the years(see box).Individual characteristics of the child can alsoincrease vulnerability. According to NorthAmerican researchers, children with disabilitiesand learning difficulties are often targetedfor exclusion, discrimination and bullying. 146Children with speech defects or whose movementsare affected by conditions such as multipledystrophy are also frequent targets of bullying.Much of the evidence, however, derivesfrom schools for children with special needs.Schools with explicit policies of integrationand inclusion tend to focus more on reducingstigma, discrimination and bullying of thesechildren, although conclusive evidence is notyet available. 147 Data from developing countriesare sparse, but a study from South Asia foundthat children with disabilities are sometimesreferred to by their disability as if it were theirname. 148 Studies covering seven countries inthe Middle East and North Africa found thatchildren with learning difficulties were at highrisk of being both the victims and perpetratorsof bullying inside and outside schools. 149133Violence against children in schools and educational settings