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WHO: No to child abuse
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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WHO and partners have presented several options for preventive actions aimed at combating any form of violence against children or adolescents. The recommended actions have already been tested and certain results have been obtained for each. According to WHO, if all actions are combined into one set, the number of new cases of violence against children can be significantly reduced.
According to one recent study, about a billion children suffered from various types of violence, including sexual and psychological violence, last year, murder is the leading cause of death among adolescents, 1 in 4 children suffers physical violence, and 1 in 5 girls experiences sexual violence at least once in their lives.
According to the WHO's recommended preventive action plan, it is necessary to adopt laws restricting free access of adolescents to any type of weapon and ensure their full enforcement (especially in southern African countries) or to introduce criminal liability for those who use harsh forms of punishment for children, which are not uncommon in European countries.
In addition, attention should be paid to the concepts and values of different peoples - in a number of countries (India, USA, South Africa) there are stereotypes regarding the form of behavior of men and women in society.
It is also necessary to increase the level of income and improve the financial situation of families with children, develop programs for the re-education of juvenile offenders, provide support to parents and educators, ensure safe conditions in educational institutions, and improve the social skills of children and adolescents.
According to the head of the WHO department, Etienne Krug, more and more data is now coming in on the global scale of the problem and the negative consequences of violence against children, but at the same time there is real data on the effectiveness of preventive actions recommended by WHO. It is now important to use the knowledge gained in the right direction and provide children and adolescents with favorable living conditions, protect them from possible violence of any form.
The action package was developed jointly with the US Centers for Disease Control, the United Nations Children's Fund and a number of other organizations. The presentation of the preventive action package is timed to coincide with the launch of the partnership to eliminate violence against children, the goal of which is to bring together governments, UN organizations, citizens, research groups to develop practical solutions to the problem, accelerate the action plan and prevent any manifestations of violence against children. WHO, as a co-founder of the partnership, will support the implementation of the plan to introduce preventive actions in countries.
The WHO initiative is also aimed at achieving the established targets in the field of sustainable development and implementing the decision of the WHO Highest Governing Body, according to which it is necessary to limit as much as possible the possibility of manifestations of any forms of child violence and to strengthen the role of health authorities in the fight against any manifestation of violence, including against women, adolescents and children.