Prevention is Key! Let's Make Prevention of Abuse and Violence against Children a Global Priority

"Preventing violence against children involves giving children the opportunity to have access to all their rights and promoting a culture of child rights to fight against psycho-social ideas, which lead to harmful behavior and the abuse of children. Efficient prevention presupposes both the active mobilization of all actors (the state, civil society, the international community, etc.), as well as the active participation of children..."

This handbook summarises the main findings of a research project that began in 2007 when the Women's World Summit Foundation (WWSF) decided to publish a guide in an effort to accelerate measures for prevention of abuse and violence against children, worldwide. The guide aims to mobilise non-governmental organisations (NGOs), child rights networks, grassroots groups, the interfaith community, social entrepreneurs, and all citizens to take action to make prevention a priority by:

• Creating a global culture of prevention
• Increasing prevention measures
• Helping implement the framework provided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - a global obligation for governments
• Following up on the recommendations of the United Nations Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Children
• Empowering, informing, and facilitating the participation of young people in preventing abuse and violence against them ["It is essential that their views are taken into account when formulating abuse and violence prevention and elimination policies. Research shows that most children suffering violence do so silently, and therefore special efforts are required to make it possible for them to feel safe enough to discuss violent incidents..."]
• Lobbying governments
  

Specifically, the guide provides practical examples by category of abuse:

1. Physical abuse: violence against children; corporal punishment.
2. Child sexual abuse: paedophilia; incest; rape.
3. Emotional and psychological abuse: core of all forms of abuse; bullying.
4. Exploitation, including commercial sexual exploitation: child labour, forced and bonded labour, domestic slavery, sale of children; child prostitution; child pornography; child sex trafficking; child sex tourism; child soldiers.
5. Harmful traditional practices: female genital mutilation (FGM); early and forced child marriages; son preference (girl infanticide and female foeticide); dowry systems.
6. Media violence: the internet; television, movies, advertising; video and computer games; cell phones.

For each category, the reader will find a definition or introduction, facts, various suggestions for NGO and citizen action, and lobby points for governments.

According to WWSF, "The prevention of violence against children is the responsibility of all of us!"