violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

7IntroductionNo community is free of violence. However, therisk of encountering violence, both against as wellas by children, is much higher in some communitiesthan in others. In some settings, especiallythose where weapons are in wide circulation,violence has today assumed frightening proportions.These are primarily urban areas in regionswith high levels of poverty, economic disparityand social inequality, sometimes complicatedby ongoing political or economic instability.At the same time, also in relatively wealthy andstable societies, especially where there are clearinequalities, alarming levels of violence againstchildren have been documented.Much of this chapter focuses on older children,particularly those in their teenage years. Childrentend to experience their teenage years as atime of excitement, when they begin independentexploration both of the physical spacesof their community, and of the roles they willassume in adulthood. For some, the daily walkor bus-ride to school, or going out to shop fortheir family, may be their first independentexposure to the community; it may also betheir first exposure to its risks of violence.Communities everywhere are subject to stresseswhich have the effect of reducing the protectionsavailable to children. These include rapidurbanisation, political instability, environmentalinsecurity, and large-scale populationmovement. In some parts of the world, theAIDS epidemic has greatly increased numbersof orphaned children. Many communities havealso had to cope with rising misuse of drugs,alcohol and firearms, increases in traffickingof children for labour or sexual exploitation,and growing exposure to violent and pornographicimages through globalised media andnew information and communications technologies.Yet it is important to emphasise that the communitycan also be a source of protection andsolidarity. Indeed, without the cooperation ofthe community – however it is defined – littlecan be done to stop violence against children.In many minds, the weakening of social andcommunity cohesion in today’s world is at theheart of the violence which threatens so manyyoung lives today. Equally, the building ofchild-friendly communities by supporting thedelivery of basic infrastructure and services,and by offering communities help in buildingor rebuilding positive group values and neighbourhoodsolidarity, is a promising remedy.For the purposes of this chapter, the communityincludes any space used or occupied bychildren other than homes, schools, institutions,and organised workplaces, which arethe subjects of other chapters in the report.However, it must be remembered that thecommunity is not only a physical space, buta social environment. Children are born andgrow up under its framework of behaviours,attitudes, customs and beliefs and are therebysocialised through it to engage with the widerworld, including learning how to deal with thenetwork of relationships and institutions thatprovide the non-familial context of their lives.The issues considered here include physicaland sexual violence, assault by authority285Violence against children in the community