PHOTO: Brazil: In December 2001, a girl, Elaine da Paixao Santos, stands in front of a wall on which she has drawn a heart and the inscription "I love you, mom" in Portuguese, on the grounds of the Mother City Foundation in La Paz, a poor neighbourhood in Salvador, capital of the eastern state of Bahia in Brazil. Elaine lives with her grandmother to avoid the fighting in her parents’ home. (UNICEF/HQ01-0442/Claudio Versiani)
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For under 18’s

What is the Study on Violence against Children?

These pages tell you about the UN Study on Violence against Children. They were written for children and young people, and can also be used to talk with younger children about the Study. It is a child-friendly version of the ‘concept paper’ for the Study. Download the whole document from Save the Children here. You can also hear more about how children all over the world have participated at the Regional Consultations which have happened since the concept paper was written. To talk about the Study and what we can all do to prevent violence in our own lives, head over to Unicef’s Voices of Youth forums. To explore these topics further, take a look at the Child Rights Information Network website.

If you’d like to read the original concept paper, though, download it here, on the web site of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

If there are words you don’t understand, take a look at the Word Bank link at the bottom of this page.

INTRODUCTION

The concept paper was written more than a year ago, so some things mentioned in this paper have already happened.

Save the Children has produced this child-friendly version with the help of the UN Study team, children, and other organisations.

If you have finished reading this paper and have more questions, try reading “Questions and Answers on the UN Study on Violence against Children”.

The UN Study on Violence against Children is an international project. It will look at violence committed against children across the world and what can be done about it. The Study will take two years to finish. It will help the UN, governments, communities, parents, children and organisations working with and for children to learn and better understand:

-  what violence is faced by children around the world
-  how violence affects children
-  what needs to be done to prevent all forms of violence against children
-  how best to help children who have faced violence
-  what children can do to protect themselves from violence
-  what are the causes of violence against children

It is an important opportunity to see what children themselves, as well as their families and communities, are doing about the violence that they experience. It is also a chance to look at ideas that children have to prevent violence. Everyone who is responsible for protecting children from violence can learn how to do it better.

This document will tell you:


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Copyright © 2005 The United Nations Secretary General’s Study on Violence Against Children.