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[6 March 2012] - The Special Representative (SP) of the UN Secretary General on Violence against Children (VAC) presented her new report on ‘Protecting children from violence in schools’ at a panel discussion at the 19th session of the Human Rights Council. To read the recommendations of the report, click here. Panel members offered an illustration of initiatives taking place in some regions to tackle the problem, with a special focus on Latin America and South Asia. Drawing on the multidimensionality of VAC, Mr Cesar Bazan, Campaign Manager at Plan International Peru, said “school violence is glocal: a global epidemic with local particularities”. Audience contributions One audience member from Sudan highlighted that in schools in her country, corporal punishment of students is deeply entrenched in society. To illustrate this point, she drew on a disturbing local saying used by some parents towards their children: “your flesh is your own, but your bones are mine”. She also said that teacher training to prevent VAC in schools should be accompanied with clear guidelines. In response, Marta added that teacher training should also be coupled with the raising of parents’ awareness, as in societies where VAC is culturally accepted, a backlash from parents is a possible outcome of anti-VAC initiatives. Further adding to the debate, Peter Newell, Coordinator of the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, stressed the particularly grotesque nature of VAC in schools – especially when it is legal – as these are institutions to which children are forced to go, and so are effectively also forced to be victims of violence. Mr Newell summed up that law reform is the most basic measure that a State can take to tackling VAC in schools; but for such laws to take effect on the ground, their enforcement must also take place. And in cases where teachers are the perpetrators of the violence, they should be suspended from their role and prosecuted.