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Summary: Statement delivered at the UN General Assembly 62nd session on behalf of NGOs that signed the petition calling the UN to establish a Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children.
New York, 19 October 2007 Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, My name is Theo Noten and I am from ECPAT Netherlands. I am speaking here on behalf of the 285 NGOs including children and young people from 40 countries in Europe and Central Asia that are calling for full implementation of the UN Study on Violence against children’s recommendations and the appointment of a Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children. Many acts of violence are perpetrated against children in a diversity of settings such as in schools and out-of-school settings, in public and private institutions and workplaces across the Europe and Central Asia region and factors such as gender, ethnic or social origin and disability put some children at greater risk than others. Of all the settings mentioned in the Violence Study however, the issue of violence against children within the home and family is the least visible and least acknowledged. Yet in probably all States in the region this is where violence against children is most prevalent. Despite States’ clear human rights obligations to protect all children from all forms of violence, there remains a hesitancy over addressing violence which occurs within the family. This hesitancy reflects the difficulty and delicacy of the task. But it also reflects the persisting perception of children as property of their parents, rather than as individual people and rights holders, with the same rights to protection as other family members. In some States, the definition of ‘domestic’ or ‘family’ violence still fails to include all forms of violence against children in this context, including direct violence by their parents or educators. It is high time for a change. To promote such a change we, as NGOs working with children and advocating for the implementation of children’s rights at local, national and international level call for the establishment of a SRSG on Violence against Children as a high level advocate. We will support the SRSG in all her or his endeavours to help create a world free from violence against children. We look forward to your support for the SRSG to act on behalf of children and to advocate for their right to grow up in an environment free of any violence. Thanks for your consideration.