Violence against Children of the World: Burden, Consequences and Recommendations for Action

Shanti Raman

South Western Sydney Local Health District

Dr Raman is a paediatrician, with sub-speciality training in epidemiology and public health. Her special interests include maternal, newborn and child health,indigenous child health, child rights, violence against women and children, health of migrants and refugees, and quality and safety in health. As the lead for Child Protection services in South Western Sydney, she is responsible for the development and coordination of a Child Protection Medical Service across the area, providing professional development in clinical aspects of Child Protection and providing academic leadership in Community Child Health. She also provides consultant paediatric services to Aboriginal communities in outback Australia. She has established a number of specialised clinics for vulnerable children, including refugee children, indigenous children, children of parents with substance abuse and or mental illness and children in foster care. She is a passionate advocate for children on the margins and has been involved with policy development and advocacy at state, national, and international levels,promoting a rights-based perspective to child health and population health.

Ayesha Kadir

International Society for Social Pediatrics & Child Health

Dr Ayesha Kadir is a social paediatrician with training in public health

Abstract

Violence in all its forms is a global public health problem. Violence against children (VAC) is both a human-rights violation and a public-health problem, and incurs huge costs for both individuals and society. From the best available data, the burden and long-lasting consequences of violence against children are considerable both to the children themselves and to society at large.

The VAC working group, a partnership of the International Society for Social Pediatrics & Child health (ISSOP), ISPCAN and the International Pediatric Association (IPA) along with Know Violence in Childhood and the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children have developed a position statement on VAC, encompassing a broader focus which allows the exploration of various typologies of violence including family violence, community violence, peer violence, institutional violence, armed conflicts and gender-based violence; drawing upon General Comment 13 to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 19. We describe the development of this position paper which:

1. Establishes a broad definition of violence to include inter-personal, institutional, structural, and societal violence.
2. Gathers the best available global evidence for the burden and consequences of VAC.
3. Puts forth recommendations for concrete actions that can be taken in the domains of clinical care and programs serving children, systems development, and public policy to: a) define the epidemiology and metrics of violence; b) identify and prevent violence against individual and populations of children; and c) mitigate and rehabilitate the effects of violence upon children across the spectrum of public and private sector professionals, organizations and systems working with children.

The position statement will describe strategies for prevention of VAC at national, regional and supra-national levels and identify key government and non-government stakeholders for delivering actions. Workshop participants will learn about policy development and effective advocacy at various levels.

Authors

Shanti Raman (South Western Sydney Local Health District)
Ayesha Kadir (International Society for Social Pediatrics & Child Health)
Thea Van Zeben-van Der Aa (Maastricht UMC)
Sue Bennett (University of Ottawa)
Tufail Muhammad (International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect)
Rajeev Seth (Indian Child Abuse Neglect & Child Labour Group, Indian Academy of Pediatrics)
Ramya Subramanian (Know Violence in Childhood)
Susan Bissell (UNICEF)

Topic Area

Child Protection Systems and Strategies at local, national and international levels

Session

Workshop13 » Session 2- Child Protection Systems (14:15 - Tuesday, 3rd October, Oceania Room)

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