violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

338Violence against children in the communitydifferent income groups. Governmentsshould analyse the impact of public policieson communities and their children.Local Governments in particular shouldbe encouraged to make violence preventionexplicit in urban rehabilitation schemesand rural development programmes. Governments,and their national and internationalpartners, should strive to integrateefforts on violence against children as akey element of sustainable and culturallysensitive poverty reduction programmes.13. Conduct sustained campaigns in societyat large to promote social normsthat emphasise respect and non-violenceand gender equity. Governments shouldensure that initiatives to instil non-violent,non-sexist norms and values are carried outthrough media campaigns and strong leadershipfrom public figures. Focuses shouldinclude eliminating sexual harassment andrape, and providing alternative models ofmasculinity which do not support violencefrom men and boys.14. Stop the use of mass media and informationtechnologies, including the Internetand electronic games, in violence againstand sexual exploitation of children. Aswell as educating children and parents,Governments should work with the industryto devise global standards for childprotection, undertake research on protectivehardware and software solutions, andfund worldwide education campaigns onsafe use of the new technologies. Governmentsshould also pursue law enforcementapproaches, including criminalising thosewho make, distribute, possess or profitfrom pornography involving children.Build information systems15. Implement civil registration universally,including the registration of births,deaths, and marriages. Governmentsmust ensure free and accessible civil registrationfree certification, and must removepenalties for late registration. The processmust be advocated widely and facilitatedand implemented in cooperation with localGovernment, hospitals, professional andtraditional birth attendants, police, religiousand community leaders, and other partnersin order to ensure universal uptake.16. Establish a national research agenda onpreventing and reducing communityviolence. Governments should developand adequately resource research that willimprove understanding of the protectiveand risk factors for community violence,including low-income communities andthe cultural context. Such a strategy shouldgo beyond descriptive research, to includeevaluations, and more complex research toimprove effective implementation at scale.This should dovetail with efforts to createa multi-layered system of data collection,including improved reporting by existingservices (police, hospital emergency rooms,mortuaries, schools, local health centres,housing authorities, etc.) and populationbasedsurveys to provide disaggregatedinformation about the geographical location,incident characteristics, and victim andperpetrator characteristics for all reportedhomicides and non-fatal violent events.