New Horizons in Preventing and Responding to Violence Against Children
Dr. Alexander Butchart
World Health Organization (WHO)
Dr. Alexander Butchart is the Prevention of Violence Coordinator in the Department of Violence and Injury Prevention and Disability at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland. His responsibilities include coordinating the Global Campaign for Violence Prevention, the development of policy for the prevention of interpersonal violence, preparation of guidelines for the prevention of specific types of interpersonal violence, and the coordination of research into various aspects of interpersonal violence and its prevention. His postgraduate training includes a master’s degree in clinical psychology and neuropsychology, and a doctoral degree for work examining the history and sociology of western medicine and public health in southern Africa. Prior to joining WHO he worked mainly in Southern and East Africa, where he was lead scientist in the South African Violence and Injury Surveillance Consortium, and in collaboration with the Uganda-based Injury Prevention Initiative for Africa participated in training violence and injury prevention workers from a number of African countries. He has been a visiting scientist at the Swedish Karolinska Institutet’s Division of Social Medicine, and is a widely published social scientist.
Abstract
Important developments make 2016 a pivotal year in efforts to intensify global, regional and national efforts to prevent and respond to violence against children. The availability of nationally representative data on the... [ view full abstract ]
Important developments make 2016 a pivotal year in efforts to intensify global, regional and national efforts to prevent and respond to violence against children. The availability of nationally representative data on the prevalence and consequences of violence against children and underlying risk factors has increased dramatically in terms of geographical coverage and detail. For example, data on Adverse Childhood Experiences and their correlations with health risk behaviours and health outcomes are now available for close on 20 low- and middle-income countries, and violence against children surveys have been completed in 10 African countries. The results of such surveys along with an increase in basic scientific research on the effects of violence mean the evidence for the long-term behavioural, health and social impacts of violence against children has never been stronger. The evidence base for the effectiveness of policies and programmes to prevent and respond to violence against children has also steadily expanded, and, in tandem with initiatives to put in place rolling systematic reviews of this evidence, it is now being intensively utilized to advocate for increased financial and political support for programming. New global policy windows have opened up, including the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda’s Target 16.2 on ending all forms of violence against children, and, within the health sector, adoption by the World Health Organization of a global plan of action on strengthening the health sector’s role in preventing interpersonal violence, in particular against children. Mechanisms to ensure that these new opportunities are fully realised are also emerging, including the new Global Partnership to End Violence against Children. The new horizons represented by these developments are described, and their implications for action in the coming years reviewed.
Session
KN-03 » Keynote (10:30 - Monday, 29th August)
