WHO: No Violence Against Children
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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WHO and its partners presented several options for preventive action aimed at combating all forms of violence against children or adolescents. The recommended actions have already been tested and for each appeared certain results. According to WHO, if you combine all the actions into one complex, you can significantly reduce the number of new cases of violence against children.
According to one recent study, last year, about a billion children were affected by various types of violence, including sexual and psychological, among teenagers, murder is the leading cause of death, 1 in 4 children suffers from physical abuse, and 1 in 5 girls is vulnerable to violence sex at least once in your life.
According to the preventive plan of WHO recommended actions, it is necessary to adopt laws restricting adolescents' free access to any kind of weapons and ensure their full compliance (especially in South African countries) or criminalize those who use severe forms of punishment for children that are not uncommon in European countries.
In addition, one should pay attention 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 raise the level of income and improve the financial situation of families with children, develop programs for the re-education of underage lawbreakers, provide support to parents and educators, provide safe conditions in educational institutions, and improve the social skills of children and adolescents.
According to the head of the WHO Department, Etienne Krug, now more data is being received on the global scale of the problem and the negative consequences of child abuse, but at the same time there are real data on the effectiveness of preventive actions recommended by WHO. Now it is important to use the knowledge gained in the right direction and to provide children and adolescents with favorable living conditions, to protect them from possible violence of any form.
The complex of action 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 complex of preventive actions is timed to the launch of the partnership on eliminating child abuse, whose goal is to unite governments, UN organizations, citizens, research groups to develop practical solutions to the problem, accelerate the plan of action and prevent any manifestations of violence against children. WHO, as a co-sponsor of the partnership, will support the implementation of the plan for the introduction of preventive actions in countries.
The WHO initiative is also aimed at achieving the established goals in the field of sustainable development and implementing the decision of the WHO Supreme Governing Body, according to which it is necessary to minimize the possibility of manifestations of any forms of child abuse and strengthen the role of health authorities in combating any manifestation of violence, including women, adolescents and children.