UN Secretary-General's Report on Violence Against Children
The Global Report
The UN Secretary-General’s Report on Violence Against Children is the first global report to document the extent, causes and impacts of violence in homes, schools, communities, institutions and workplaces. The Study proposes clear recommendations to prevent and respond to violence.
The Report is supported by UNICEF, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the World Health Organization. It is founded on perspectives from human rights, public health and child protection contributed by thousands of researchers, practitioners, institutions, professional associations, other civil society organizations and children from every part of the globe, together with governments.
The Report benefits from a growing body of scientific studies that examine the causes, consequences and preventability of violence. It concludes that violence against children is preventable, and no violence against children is justifiable. The Study finds that social acceptance of different kinds of violence – particularly when no visible physical injury results – normalizes it in the minds and lives of children and adults.
It concludes that the majority of violent acts experienced by children are perpetrated by people who are part of their daily lives, in places such as homes, schools and recreation facilities where they should be safest. The strongest protective factors include strong, stable families and schools and other institutions that foster supportive peer relationships, within communities with high levels of social cohesion.
Read the report! (4 MB)
Read the Report of the independent expert for the United Nations study on violence against children
Read the North American Regional Consultation Report:
Handbook for parliamentarians
On 2 May 2007 UNICEF and the Inter-Parliamentary Union launched a joint
handbook for lawmakers to help them devise the necessary strategies, from introducing legislation to allocating public funds, to protect children from violence.
Parliamentarians can be among the foremost and most effective champions of child protection, because they can legislate, oversee government activity, allocate financial resources and, as leaders within their nations, advocate for change.
Share this document as widely as you can and send a copy to your Member Parliament.
Children and Young People’s Statement
The 22 children and young people at the launch of the UN Secretary-General’s Study on Violence Against Children created and addressed these remarks to the United Nations General Assembly.
Poster Series
Canadian children and young people identified the most pressing forms of violence affecting them in a poster series produced in consultation with UNICEF Canada, Save the Children Canada, the Canadian Council of Provincial Child and Youth Advocates and the Centre for Children’s Rights at Cape Breton University, with support from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
- Membership has its privileges
- Caught in the middle
- Children learn by example
- Doing nothing is doing everything
For free copies of the posters contact the National Clearinghouse on Family Violence at
www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/nc-cn or 1-800-267-1291.
Behind Closed Doors: The Impact of Domestic Violence Against Children
Some of the biggest victims of domestic violence are the smallest. On 3 August 2006, UNICEF and The Body Shop released the first global report measuring the extent of children’s exposure to domestic violence and its impacts on children’s health and development. At least 275 million children worldwide witness acts of domestic violence.
No society is immune from the pandemic of domestic violence, but few have recognized that when children witness it in their homes, the impacts can be as damaging and long-lasting as other forms of violence – anxiety, depression, and aggression among them. Children have for too long been the silent victims of spousal abuse. Only a handful of countries have measured the extent of children’s exposure to violence in the home. Behind Closed Doors: The Impact of Domestic Violence Against Children (PDF 2MB) reveals the scale of the problem, proposes evidence-based responses, and calls for greater resolve to action. The report is part of the UN Secretary-General’s Study on Violence Against Children launched in Fall, 2006.
Canada: Facts and Actions (View fact sheet)
Canada is one of the few countries to measure the scale and impacts of children’s exposure to domestic violence, and to address it with fairly recent changes to laws and social policy. Canadian research and experience points to clear directions to strengthen responses family violence.
Innocenti Digest: Domestic Violence Against Women and Girls (297KB PDF)
Images above: Reproduction rights contributed to UNICEF Canada by Jennifer Boggs, Canada, to North American consultation for the UN Secretary General’s Study on Violence Against Children