violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

“I really believe there is nothing more important than child protection because it is linked with every otherchild right, be it development, survival or participation. For all countries the recognition of this rightas paramount and the decision to set up both programmes and institutions to ensure child protectionis a giant step in the right direction.”Ms. Loveleen Kacker, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, India32Violence against children and international human rights law and standardsExisting protection under internationalhuman rights law will be expanded with thefinalisation of treaties regarding children, ondisappearance and disability, currently beingconcluded. Specific provisions relating to thehuman rights of children with disabilities,including obligations of States to address violenceagainst them, are included in the draftConvention on the Rights of Persons withDisabilities, which will be submitted to theGeneral Assembly for adoption at its sixtyfirstsession.The implementation of each of the seven corehuman rights treaties currently in force ismonitored by a Committee of Experts throughvarious procedures. Each reviews implementationthereof through the consideration ofreports submitted by States, and makes recommendationsfor further action. Four Committeesare empowered to consider petitionsfrom individuals who allege that their rightshave been violated in cases where the Stateconcerned has accepted this procedure. TwoCommittees have competence to conductinquiries into grave, systematic or serious violationsof the treaty, again in cases where theState has accepted these procedures. Similarprocedures are contained in the draft treatieson disappearance and disability, while theOptional Protocol on the Convention againstTorture and other Forms of Cruel, Inhumanand Degrading Treatment or Punishmentintroduces a system of visits to places of detentionin States parties.All bodies accepting the treaty have emphasisedthe obligations of States to take specificsteps to eliminate and respond to violenceagainst children in their concluding observations,reports, and in several of their decisionson petitions. Several treaty bodies have alsoadopted General Comments or recommendationswhich outline States’ obligations toaddress violence against children. The Committeeon Economic, Social and CulturalRights General Comment on the Right toEducation indicates that corporal punishmentin an educational setting is inconsistent withinternational law and the dignity of the individual.The Committee on the Elimination ofDiscrimination against Women has adopted ageneral recommendation on States’ obligationsunder the Convention with regard to femalegenital mutilation (FGM) and two generalrecommendations concerning gender-basedviolence against women.The Convention onthe Rights of the ChildAlthough protections are provided to childrenby general international human rights treatiesand other international agreements, at an earlystage in the history of the United Nations, theinternational community recognised the needto provide specific human rights protection forchildren. The General Assembly’s 1959 Declarationon the Rights of the Child set out 10non-legally binding principles aimed at providingspecial safeguards for children.The Convention on the Rights of the Child(CRC), which sets out legally binding standards,was adopted by the General Assembly in 1989.The CRC, which signals clearly that children