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At a special event held during the current meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva today, UN experts called for better data and research on violence against children in order to strengthen government action for prevention and response to violence, including legislative reform to prohibit it in all its forms.
Organized by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, UNICEF and OHCHR, the interactive panel discussion on the theme of promoting better data and research to inform child sensitive and effective laws, policies and action to combat violence against children highlighted new evidence about children's exposure to physical punishment and psychological aggression.
Panelists included senior representatives of ILO, WHO, UNICEF and the international NGO Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, as well as representatives of the joint organizers of the special event.
“Widely perceived as a social taboo, violence against children is seldom reported, and children often feel frightened to speak up and seek support. Official statistics do not capture the true scale and extent of this phenomenon,” said Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative on Violence against Children. “Without good data, national planning is compromised, effective policy-making and resource mobilization are hampered, and targeted interventions are limited in their ability to prevent and combat violence against children.”