[child-rights] Regional meeting in South Africa calls for an end to violence against children

UNICEF Press release

Johannesburg, 18 July -– A regional preparatory consultation on the UN
Secretary General’s Study on Violence for Eastern and Southern Africa
opened in Johannesburg today with a strong call to end the violence that
is afflicting many of the continent’s children.

The meeting highlighted the need for HIV/AIDS to be at the center of all
efforts to eradicate violence. The meeting heard that violence against
children occurs all the time and in every society in the world but, in
eastern and southern Africa, the stakes are higher: many more children are
at risk of violence because they’ve lost one or both parents to AIDS and
the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS means that sexually abused children are
more likely to be infected as a result.

UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa Per Engebak said
children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS were more likely to find
themselves on the street, in the commercial sex trade, or married to older
men. He called for more information and research to ascertain the extent
of the problem.

“What we are seeing in eastern and southern Africa is only a tip of the
iceberg. The key messages of HIV prevention - Abstain, Be Faithful,
Consistently Use a Condom – do nothing to protect children from infection
as a result of sexual violence,” he said. “A child who needs to sell her
body for food does not have the choice to abstain, it is unlikely that a
man who rapes her has been faithful and rarely would he think of using a
condom,” he said.

As well as sexual abuse, the meeting highlighted corporal punishment as
another form of violence. Most countries in the region have no legislation
against the use of corporal punishment in schools and where it is
outlawed, it is still widely practiced in homes. The Independent Expert
for the UN Study Professor Sergio Pinheiro called for a universal ban on
the practice, saying it was having a devastating effect on the development
of children.

“Despite progress in civil and political rights, democracy has not made
its way into the family and schools,” he said. “There is nothing
reasonable about hitting children.”

The conference is also being attended by over 55 young people who urged
governments to provide free legal assistance to abused children. They said
tougher laws were needed to punish those who abuse children.

The three day consultation will examine issues such as sexual and gender
based violence, corporal punishment, HIV/AIDS and its relationship to
violence against children, and impact of traditional practices on
children.



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