PRESS CONFERENCE LAUNCHING SECRETARY-GENERAL’S STUDY ON VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN

Widespread, underreported violence against children cast a lasting shadow over young lives in ways that the world was only just beginning to understand, United Nations officials told reporters at a Headquarters press conference this morning, as part of the launch of the Secretary-General’s in-depth study on violence against children, the most comprehensive such examination ever undertaken.

“This is a landmark study,” said Ann Veneman, Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).  “It tells us that violence against children happens in every country and cuts across social, cultural, religious and ethnic lines.”

The study indicated that currently available data was alarmingly weak, she added.  In many parts of world, there was no system for recording and investigating violence against children, and where such systems existed, they often underestimated the magnitude of the problem. 

She said that violence committed by teachers and bullies kept many children, especially girls, away from school.  Sexual violence spread HIV/AIDS, and some 100-140 million women and girls had experienced genital cutting.  Additionally, domestic work constituted the largest employment category worldwide for girls under the age of 16, often exposing them to physical punishment, humiliation and sexual harassment.

Even the youngest children were not safe from violence, she said, noting that one study showed that infants were among those facing the greatest risk of violent death.

“The study breaks taboos, and that’s probably its biggest merit,” said Etienne Krug, Director for Injuries and Violence Prevention at the World Health Organization (WHO).  For the first time, information was available on all types of violence against children, including that committed behind closed doors at the hands of parents and caregivers, he said.

Some 73 million boys and 150 million girls currently under the age of 18 had already experienced sexual abuse, and for the rest of their lives they would suffer in ways that the world was only beginning to comprehend, he said.

“We are just starting to scratch the surface on understanding how big this issue is and how many consequences are resulting from it,” he said.

Besides suffering from depression, anxiety and sleeping disorders, those who had experienced abuse as children often later engaged in risky behaviour, such as smoking, alcohol abuse and having multiple sex partners, which, in turn, resulted in additional negative health consequences.

Some aspects of the study would be difficult for many countries to deal with, noted Mehr Kahn-Williams, Deputy United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.  “I don’t think we should ever underestimate the challenge that we have in addressing the entrenched attitudes and behaviour patterns”, such as the disciplining of children, she said.  “Those have been there for centuries.  Many of them are regarded as culturally acceptable or perfectly fine.”

Even if some States were not in full agreement with the report’s recommendations, follow-up was essential, said Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, the independent expert appointed by the Secretary-General to lead the study.  After presenting the report to the General Assembly’s Third Committee yesterday, he said that the dynamic debate there showed that there was an international coalition for the protection of children from violence.

“It would be a waste of all this momentum, this enthusiasm, this convergence among Member States […] if the General Assembly will not be able to assure a dynamic day after for the study,” he said.

Asked about the responsibilities of mass media on the issue of violence against children, Ms. Veneman said the media could highlight the severity of the situation, as well as potential solutions.  Within countries, the media could also highlight weaknesses in the legal system, such as whether existing laws were being enforced.

Dr. Krug added that there was a need for responsible, non-sensationalized reporting.  He noted that news reports often focused on blood and dead bodies, but did not analyse what had led up to the violence or how it could have been prevented.  Without that piece of the puzzle, the situation ended up seeming hopeless.  He also called for deglamorizing violence and risky behaviour.  “Guns are not cool.  Alcohol is not cool.  Drugs are not cool.  They’re very important risk factors for violence.”

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For information media • not an official record