violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

“Violence against children has incalculable costs to present and future generations and it undermineshuman development. We recognize that virtually all forms of violence are linked to entrenched genderroles and inequalities, and that the violation of the rights of children is linked to the status of women.”The African Declaration on Violence against Girls, 2006 VII7dating violence. After four years, significantlyless physical and sexual dating violence perpetrationand victimisation was evident for theadolescents in the intervention group. 219Some life skills-based education programmesare delivered through peer facilitators. Suchprogrammes utilise children and young peopleof the same or older ages as the target groupto deliver programmes designed to improveknowledge, attitudes or behaviours. Whilethe active participation of children and youngpeople is an important principle from a rightsbasedperspective, evidence that programmesfacilitated by peers alone reduce violence isambiguous at best, especially when applied inisolation from other strategies. 220,221 Many ofthese programmes suffer from a lack of adequatesupport, and it appears that the level ofsupport required is high for such initiatives.In addition, peer leaders are constantly ‘agingout’ of their role as they mature and move onto other things.Community-level situationalpreventionPromoting norms and values that promoterespect and peaceful conflict resolutionA large number of efforts are undertaken toprevent violence by and against children in thecommunity through public information or preventioncampaigns aimed at changing communityattitudes, beliefs and norms surroundingthe use of violence. Multi-component preventioncampaigns have been launched to addressyouth violence, gang violence, bullying, andsexual violence. 222,223,224,225,226,227 Campaignscan make the social climate more conducive tochange by breaking taboos and creating publicdebate on issues. However, lasting change tendsto require a combination of efforts beyond campaignsalone. In general, these types of campaignseem to be most effective in increasingknowledge and awareness, as well as in shifts insocial norms concerning some types of violenceand gender relations, and some have led to anincrease in the disclosure of sexual offences. 228But such campaigns, when implemented in isolation,have not consistently led to changes inbehaviour or to a reduction in violence.Police reform and trainingat community levelIn places where police ‘culture’ is extremelynegative and discriminatory against childrenor young people, physical and sexual violence– among other abuses of their human rights– can be a routine occurrence, and entirelyunpunished. Often the violence is not towardsall children but towards certain groups suchas children and young people who are pooror living on the street, refugees, returnees orinternally displaced young persons. In suchcases, police forces need to be sensitised tohuman rights in general, and children’s rightsand protection issues in particular, in the overallcontext of system-wide reforms.With training and motivation, police can takean active part in bringing about positive changein the lives of children instead of being rankedamong their most frequently cited abusers. InMumbai, India, for example, improved relationsbetween the police and children workingin the informal sector has led to employment321Violence against children in the community