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Children Have Rights Too!
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Plenary session: Ms Santos Pais' first report
Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative to the Secretary General on Violence Against Children, presented her first annual report to the Human Rights Council during Thursday afternoon’s plenary session.
She said: “To move this process forward, strong political will is vital and wide mobilisation of social support remains an asset to break the silence and promote a change in behaviour and in the social acceptance of violence.
“By listening to children’s views and perspectives, informed by their experience, we gain a better understanding of the hidden face of violence and its root causes; we learn about the different ways in which boys and girls suffer from violence and we enhance our ability to shape strategies to address their distinct risks and potential.”
Ms Santos Pais also spoke of the need to continue efforts to mainstream children’s rights at the Council. She emphasised the need for law reform, as well for States to develop national strategies on violence, and for improved research and data collection. Read CRIN’s interview with Ms Santos Pais at the Council here
In response to the speech and report, a delegate from Russia asked about additional measures that may be taken in respect of children who are internationally adopted.
A representative from the European Union asked what role the HRC and other Special Procedures can play in helping with the mandate. What are the most effective steps towards preventing all forms of violence?
A delegate from Brazil noted her government supported the efforts to establish a complaints mechanism to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
A delegate from the Netherlands asked how Ms Santos Pais will assist States with implementation and monitoring. Do you think establishing an international database for sharing good practice and data would be a good step?
Read Ms Santos Pais' first report
[Please note, this session, on Ms Santos Pais' report, will carry over into tomorrow (Friday)]
Further information
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Side event: Sexual violence against children
A side event at the 13th session of the Human Rights Council addressed sexual violence against children.
Lucien Stopler, of Terre des Hommes, said that child abuse affects about three per cent of European children. Recent research suggests about ten per cent of children in Europe have experienced abuse before the age of 18. “However, the reality is that this figure is likely to be much higher,” he said.
Poverty, substance abuse and sexual abuse in their own childhood are among the factors that lead adults to abuse. Mr Stopler said that awareness and training need to be tailored to the child’s network. General practitioners, health practices, new mothers, teachers, social workers and psychologists all need to be trained to recognise the signals, he said.
Information given to general practitioners in one study enabled them to recognise four times the number of abuse cases than before they were educated.
The tendency was towards institutionalisation in the 60s and 70s for those that had been abused, Mr Stopler said. This is changing, and there is more effort to place children in alternative families. Some children have been rejected by mothers after complaining of abuse by, for example, step fathers.
Integrated approach
Mr Stopler went on to note that although poverty is often identified as one of the main reasons for abuse, social interventions and not just material needs have been proved to be necessary in combating sexual violence towards children.
“The main element of child abuse that needs to be addressed is rendering the behaviour socially unacceptable”, he said.
One has to be mindful of the family bond that is shattered as a result of prosecutions or accusations of abuse. Investigations may be invasive, and children may be stigmatised. Mr Stopler said: “Firmer policing has accentuated the need for coordinated approach in child protection.”
He concluded by suggesting that stopping violence should be mitigated by the following activities:
• Minimising secondary victimisation, such as by sensitising police and installing special child friendly rooms for allegations.
• A system of social support should be activated as soon as there is an allegation of abuse.
He said: “European social work needs to integrate its activities within existing social structures. Police should take strong action, but there must be increasing coordination with social work. “
Anastasie Koudoh, of Plan West Africa, then presented. She said: “Young people play a key role in breaking the chain of violence that affects so many families.” She added access to quality education is crucial.
Abigail Sogah, a member of a youth initiative in Ghana, called on governments to intensify law enforcement and awareness of sexual violence. She said: “From my experience, sexual violence can be completely eradicated in our communities. We need to take action now.” Read Abigail’s statement from the plenary session on the rights of the child.
Naiyana Thanawattho, of Save the Children Sweden, outlined some of the activities undertaken in the Southeast Asia and Pacific region to combat sexual violence against children.
She emphasised that children needed to be involved in designing protection mechanisms, and that reporting abuse can begin a process of healing for children.
Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative to the Secretary General on Violence Against Children, said she felt very strongly encouraged by the discussions on sexual violence at the HRC so far.
She noted that professionals who work with children are often not trained to deal with incidences of sexual violence.
Questions from the floor
A representative from the International Disability Alliance noted that children with disabilities are at high risk of sexual violence.
A representative from the Philippines asked about the areas of work that Abigail, the youth panellist, felt still needed adult supervision or intervention.
Abigail responded by explaining that youth activists had undertaken a number of programmes in her community, and that funds and transportation were needed to expand such programmes in different communities.
She said they also needed education and training to improve advocacy, and know where they needed to focus their efforts.
The side event was sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway in cooperation with Plan, Terre des Hommes International, International Save the Children Alliance, Bureau International Catholique de l’Enfance, Women World Summit Foundation (WWSMF), World Vision International and the NGO group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Further information
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Interview: Tim Ekesa
Tim Ekesa, 40, is Director of the Kenya Alliance for the Advancement of Children. The alliance is a network of children’s organisations that works on policy change and advocates for the rights of children, for example through drafting alternative reports for consideration by the Committee on the Rights of the Child. Mr Ekesa joined the Alliance in 1994 as a programme officer, and became director six years ago. He was invited to make a presentation, and be on a panel of experts, at the day dedicated to the rights of the child at the 13th session of the Human Rights Council.
I think that the Human Rights Council does offer an opportunity for change. Although I think that one day for the rights of the child, out of 27 or something, is not enough. To consider all the issues, there needs to be three days devoted to children’s rights. And children need to be more involved – not just reading out statements, but be meaningfully involved.
I’ve been happy with the issues some of the countries are raising, and it is good that there are follow-up hearings where there is the opportunity to influence. For example, countries like Norway are asking important questions, and they are big donors for organisations in my country, so that is positive.
Some countries are well prepared, but there are some that just make general statements – including my own. They were saying exactly the same things five years ago. I went to a side event on the Optional Protocols to the CRC, and it makes you realise that these instruments are there, but not many people know about them and they are a real opportunity for advocacy.
Meeting with the Special Rapporteurs is great because you see how passionate they are. It's inspiring and makes me think we can go back and really push for change.
I was invited to come by the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child to make a presentation.
Participation is very important to our work, and we were one of the first countries to bring children to a session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. We went to different regions and encouraged children to select their own representative. We have also established child rights clubs in schools, where teachers are just the facilitators
Because we work with more than 200 schools in Kenya, we often come across the problem of sexual violence.
As children are now more aware of their rights, they are able to talk and tell us about it. There was recently the case of a teacher who had got two girls at his school pregnant. In fact he was the headmaster, and we had trained him in child rights. He was sacked.
Awareness is growing. Often, when the child of a poor family is raped, the abuser offers $50 to the parents so they don’t take the case to court, but now they often don’t accept it and take the case to court. We also train court officers in children’s rights so that they know how to deal with the situation.
The media is also handling it in a better way. They used to put pictures of abused children on the front page, but now they know they should not be identified.
What often happens is that the teacher is influential in the community, so he persuades parents to accept money, or promises that he will marry the girl, to prevent the case from going to court. Orphans also often go to teachers for help, but end up getting abused. I helped to set up a child helpline in the country, and the majority of the calls are about sexual abuse.
Further information
For more information, contact:
Child Rights Information Network
East Studio, 2 Pontypool Place, London, SE1 8QF
Tel: +44 (0)207 401 2257
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.crin.org
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=22134
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News in brief
Coming up tomorrow:
More from the plenary session, where Ms Santos Pais, Special Representative to the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children, will be responding to questions on her report
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Further information about the Human Rights Council is available on the CRIN website at: www.crin.org/chr. To submit information, email [email protected].
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