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MEDIA RELEASE
New report reveals levels of physical, sexual and emotional violence against Africa’s children remain unacceptably high and calls for a systemic response to child protection across the region.
Addis Ababa: A new report from the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) to be launched in Addis Ababa on 19th September, 2014 reveals that Africa’s children are still subjected to unacceptably high levels of physical, sexual and emotional violence across all levels of society, despite decades of efforts by governments across the region to regulate and legislate against such practices.
The African Report on Violence against Children constitutes the most comprehensive study to date of the phenomenon in Africa and lays down priorities for action at various levels that will be required to achieve better protection of children. The report was produced in response to the recommendation made at the 15th Ordinary Session of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in 2010 to follow up on the UN Study on violence against children, to provide a detailed perspective on the situation in Africa. It calls for a concerted programme of action to ensure that children across the continent are offered the best levels of protection against all forms of violence.
The report, based on surveys undertaken in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and a review of more than 75 studies and reports, revealed some disturbing details about the levels of physical, sexual and emotional violence inflicted upon African children in every strata of society:
- Sixty per cent of children in Zambia, Morocco and Uganda, and around half of children in Mali and Ethiopia, experienced physical punishment from family members;
- Whilst nearly 60 per cent of children reported that no major harm was inflicted, 16 per cent said the most recent episode of physical punishment left scars on their body;
- An estimated 92 per cent of pupils interviewed in Togo, 86 per cent in Sierra Leone, 73 per cent in Egypt, 71 per cent in Ghana, 60 per cent in Kenya, and 55 per cent in Senegal and Benin reported having experienced physical violence in schools from teachers or classmates.
The report argues that violence against children in Africa must be considered within the context of broader social, cultural and economic trends, such as urbanisation, deepening poverty and inequality, family fragmentation, and the persistence of traditional norms that do not always correspond to contemporary legal and human rights codes.
As children grow, risk factors for experiencing violence beyond the home increase. For children without families, including those living and working on the street and in other hazardous settings such as domestic work, those with disabilities and in residential institutions, the risks of abuse are even greater.
Girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence, which can take place at home, in school or in the wider community. The report cites studies showing that in Kenya 46 per cent of girls had experienced sexual violence in the community; whilst in Zimbabwe, 20 per cent of females experienced their first incident of sexual violence while travelling to or from school.
These unacceptably high levels of violence against African children persist, the report claims, despite years of effort on the part of governments across the region to introduce child protection reforms. Most African states have ratified the key international and regional human rights instruments relating to children’s rights and welfare. Five – DRC, Kenya, Tunisia, South Sudan and Togo – have prohibited corporal punishment in all settings. Rape and statutory rape are designated criminal acts in all African countries, and all have legal provisions criminalising sexual violence, abuse and exploitation. Yet, despite this, progress has been constrained by a lack of efforts such as public awareness campaigns to achieve social change, and a lack of capacity building of professionals working with and for children. Such factors, working in tandem with a lack of knowledge concerning the rule of law, and the continued use of traditional systems of punishment and sanction, mean that Africa’s children remain particularly vulnerable to violent behaviours from those around them who should be nurturing and protecting them.
The report recommends a suite of concrete proposals to address the problem of violence against children including:
- Reinforcing legal and policy frameworks at national level to establish clear mechanisms to respond to and prevent violence against children and facilitate the development of effective protection systems
- Building and supporting effective programmes and services at national level which seek to prevent and respond to violence against children, including increasing the capacity of children themselves to enable them to become actors of their own protection and the protection of their peers
- Developing evidence-based advocacy strategies on violence against children and implement a pan-African campaign to change attitudes that currently condone or accept violence against children as the norm across every strata of African society.
OUTLINE QUOTE:
“The children of Africa represent the best hope for the future development, economic growth and security of the entire continent,” said Mr Theophane Nikyema, Executive Director of ACPF.
“As such, we should be nurturing, supporting them and providing environments – in their homes, in schools, in workplaces, across society at every level – where they can develop, grow and mature and reach their full potential.
“There should be no place in African societies for violence of any sort against children. As societies, we are rightly judged by how we treat the most vulnerable members of our community. The African Report on Violence against Children provides a template for practical action which we must adopt and fully implement if we are to create a world fit for our children to inherit.”
ends
Use this link for access to the report and media material https://app.box.com/s/gxibymhlz3usnzqd5mi3
For further information or to receive a copy of the full report, contact:
Ms. Cathy Bartley cathy.bartley@bartley-robbs.co.uk
or
Ms. Patricia Martinache, +251 912 66 96 00, martinache@africanchildforum.org
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