Civil Society Development Forum 2007

“A Platform for Development: Countdown to 2015”
28-30 June 2007 - Centre International de Conférences, Genève (CICG)

Workshop - Friday 29 June 2007
Child abuse, violence & exploitation
16h00 – 17h30 Room 4

PANELLISTS:
− Cédric Metrat-Depardon, INWA Intervida World Alliance
− Maria Eugenia Villareal, ECPAT International
− Elly Pradervand, WWSF Women’s World Summit Foundation
− Brigitte Polonovski, ICW/CIF International Council of Women
Rapporteurs: Anna Laakman and Christian Bernardo - WWSF Interns

Brief Workshop Report:
Strengthening international, national and local commitment and action to prioritise prevention of child abuse and violence against children.

The Workshop began with a brief introduction by moderator, Cedric Metrat Depardon, representative of INWA who gave a brief history of international conventions and laws designed to protect children from the worst forms of child abuse and exploitation. M. Depardon also discussed the key factors linked to child abuse, including causes and preventative measures to combat abuse and exploitation.

Maria Eugenia Villareal, representative of ECPAT International explained the issues involved with Child Sexual Exploitation. Trafficking of children is a global, transcontinental problem that is exacerbated by economic and social exclusions, which assists in irregular migration. Poverty is a fundamental factor in promoting conditions for child abuse and exploitation.

Elly Pradervand, representative of WWSF, presented the actions by the WWSF Children Section in relation to prevention of abuse and violence against children and shared the overarching recommendations of the UN SG Study on Violence against Children with the participants. Violence and exploitation perpetuate poverty, illiteracy, and early mortality.
The physical, emotional and psychological scarring from child abuse robs children of their full development and hinders the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

The final speaker, Brigitte Polonovski, representative of ICW, discussed female infanticide. She revealed the purposeful elimination of female infants before birth is particularly prevalent in Asia. With new technology, it is now possible to determine the prenatal gender of a child. This issue of prenatal female infanticide has resulted in the disappearance of eighty to one hundred million females.

Overall, the panel members agreed unanimously that violence against children is preventable and never justified. Following an excellent discussion, the following recommendations were finalised.

Recommendations:
Governments must:

- Prioritise prevention of abuse and violence and develop public policies for protection for and assistance of victims of all forms of child abuse and exploitation
- Build up multi-stakeholder strategies to combat all forms of child abuse and exploitation
- Implement international conventions and protocols related to child rights, including the International Human Rights Law and the recommendations of the United Nations General Secretary Report on violence against children.
- Raise public awareness and specifically influence the media to reduce violence with a mandate to respect the Rights of the Child
- Enforce the law for the protection of children and prosecution of traffickers and abusers
- Take steps to improve the quality and quantity of disaggregated data on child abuse and exploitation by monitoring national progress with regard to the CRC commitments
- Commit themselves to enforce laws prohibiting sex selection at all stages as well as forced and early marriages
- Demonstrate political will by providing adequate resources to deliver concrete results in the eradication of child abuse and exploitation