Download PDF - Violence Against Children - East Asia and the ...

introduction
“How is it possible for normal, decent,
God-fearing people…to have turned a
blind eye to a system which impoverished,
oppressed and violated so many?”
– Desmond Tutu, on apartheid
“Children here don’t like to have dreams
for the future because they can’t fulfil
them…”
– 15-year old girl from a family displaced
by conflict, West Kalimantan, Indonesia
Globally, many children are in trouble.
• Malnutrition among pregnant women is a
major factor in the stunting of an estimated
177 million children’s growth.
• More than 20% of primary school-aged
children in developing countries are not in
school.
• Approximately 50% of the 40 million
people displaced by conflict are children.
• More than 10 million children under 15
have lost their mother or both parents to
AIDS, and 1.5 million under-15 year olds
are infected with HIV.
• 11 million children under five die each year
from preventable illnesses.
• 50 million children are malnourished.
• 150 million children live on the streets.
• Domestic violence, though relatively hidden
and ignored, is the most prevalent form of
violence against women and girls – affecting
millions each year.
– The State of the World’s Children 2001, UNICEF
In the Asia-Pacific region, issues identified by
UNICEF in 2000 as priorities for child
protection 1 include:
• harmful and disabling child labour
• commercial sexual exploitation of children
• trafficking of children
• physical and sexual abuse
• discriminatory practices, deficient laws and
inappropriate judicial process
• orphans, unaccompanied children and
children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS
• children affected by armed conflict
• children with disabilities
• the disproportionate number of girls and
ethnic minorities among those neglected
and abused.
Perception of and response to human rights,
and the right of children to protection, has
changed dramatically over the last few
decades. In specific parts of the world, there
were dramatic leaps forward, such as the end
of apartheid rule in South Africa in 1994. The
50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights was celebrated in 1998. The
10th anniversary of the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child (CRC), and the related
World Declaration on the Survival, Protection
and Development of Children, were marked in
September 2000.
1
Children in Need of Special Protection in East Asia and the Pacific, UNICEF, 2000
10