Covid-19 restrictions exacerbated vulnerability of children to violence
"Stay-at-home measures including school closures have limited the usual sources of support for families and individuals, such as friends, extended family or professionals."
Half of the world’s children, about one billion children each year, are affected by physical, sexual or psychological violence, suffering injuries, disabilities and death because countries have failed to follow established strategies to protect them.
This information was released via a new report published this week by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Unicef, Unesco, the special representative of the United Nations secretary-general on violence against children and the End Violence Partnership.
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The data was compiled through a survey administered between 2018 and 2019 with responses from over 1 000 decision-makers from 155 countries.
“We have evidence-based tools to prevent it, which we urge all countries to implement,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s director-general.
The report, Global Status Report on Preventing Violence Against Children 2020, is the first of its kind, charting progress in 155 countries against the Inspire framework, a set of seven strategies for preventing and responding to violence against children.
Measures include the implementation and enforcement of laws, changing norms and values to make violence unacceptable, creating safe physical environments for children, providing support to parents and caregivers, strengthening income and economic security and stability, improving response and support services for victims and providing children with education and life skills.
The report identifies the need for all countries to scale up efforts to implement them.
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“Eighty-eight per cent of the countries have key laws in place to protect children against violence, but only 47 per cent report that these were being strongly enforced,” said Ghebreyesus.
The report includes the first-ever global homicide estimates specifically for children under 18.
Previous estimates were based on data that included 18- to 19-year-olds.
It finds that in 2017 about 40 000 children were victims of homicide.
“Violence against children has always been pervasive, and now things could be getting much worse,” said Unicef executive director Henrietta Fore.
“Lockdowns, school closures and movement restrictions have left far too many children stuck with their abusers, without the safe space that school would normally offer. It is urgent to scale-up efforts to protect children during these times and beyond, including by designating social service workers as essential and strengthening child helplines.”
Progress is generally unevenOf the Inspire strategies, only access to schools through enrolment showed the most progress, with 54 per cent of countries reporting a sufficient number of children in need were being reached in this way.
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Between 32 to 37 per cent of countries considered that victims of violence could access support services, while 26 per cent of countries provided programmes on parent and caregiver support.
Twenty-one per cent of countries had programmes to change harmful norms and 15 per cent of countries had modifications to provide safe environments for children.
Although 83 per cent of countries have national data on violence against children, only 21 per cent used these to set baselines and national targets to prevent and respond to violence against children.
About 80 per cent of countries have national plans of action and policies but only one-fifth have plans that are fully funded or have measurable targets.
A lack of funding combined with inadequate professional capacity are likely contributing factors and a reason why implementation has been slow.
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The Covid-19 response and its impact on children
“During the Covid-19 pandemic, and the related school closures, we have seen a rise in violence and hate online. This includes bullying. Now, as schools begin to reopen, children are expressing their fears about going back to school,” said Audrey Azoulay, Unesco director-general.
“It is our collective responsibility to ensure schools are safe environments for all children. We need to think and act collectively to stop violence at school and in our societies at large.
“Stay-at-home measures including school closures have limited the usual sources of support for families and individuals, such as friends, extended family or professionals.
“This further erodes victims’ ability to successfully cope with crises and the new routines of daily life.
“Spikes in calls to helplines for child abuse and intimate partner violence have been observed. While online communities have become central to maintaining many children’s learning, support and play, an increase in harmful online behaviours, including cyberbullying, risky online behaviour and sexual exploitation have been identified.”
“While this report was being finalised, confinement measures and the disrupted provision of already limited child protection services exacerbated the vulnerability of children to various forms of violence,” said Najat Maalla M’jid, special representative of the United Nations secretary-general on violence against children.
“To respond to this crisis a unified, child rights and multisectoral framework for action for children is critical requiring a strong mobilisation of governments, bilateral/multilateral donors, civil society, private sector and children whose views must be heard and truly taken into account to ensure duly protection and the possibility for all to thrive and reach their full potential.”
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Accelerating action to protect children
WHO and its partners will continue to work with countries to fully implement the Inspire strategies by enhancing coordination, developing and implementing national action plans, prioritising data collection and strengthening legislative frameworks.
Global action is needed to ensure the necessary financial and technical support is available to all countries.
Monitoring and evaluation are crucial to determine the extent to which these prevention efforts are effectively delivered to all who need them.
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