Violence against children and young people is widespread in North and South America, and it takes many different, equally unacceptable forms. Children (End Violence).3 It allows for a more in-depth analysis of strategies and approaches to prevent and respond to violence against children in North and South America.
Main Findings
Leadership and governance
Collaboration across sectors and stakeholders
Although the data was collected before the pandemic, the findings are highly relevant given the increased risk of domestic violence in the context of COVID-19.
Information and data to inform policy and practice
A snapshot of INSPIRE approaches – substantial achievements but
Percentage of countries reporting support for INSPIRE prevention and response approaches at national level, by type of approach.
Implementation and enforcement of laws
For example, all countries reported having legislation regulating civilian access to and use of firearms. Only 52% of countries reported having national laws banning weapons on school grounds (eg firearms, knives and other edged weapons, batons).
Norms and values
Additional data from the 2020 Regional Status Report on Alcohol and Health in the Americas highlights the role of law in preventing harmful alcohol use, which is a major risk factor for violence.4 For example, although marketing regulations are especially relevant to prevent alcohol initiation and excessive consumption by minors, significant gaps remain in America, where only two countries have bans on at least one type of media, and two countries have restrictions on all forms of digital marketing. Respondents from the countries reported large gaps in enforcement of laws in all areas described above.
Safe environments
It should be highlighted that changing harmful gender and social norms is complex and ideally should involve multiple components as part of integrated and coordinated efforts.
Parent and caregiver support Fathers, mothers and caregivers have
Income and economic strengthening
Response and support services Violence against children has
In fact, key aspects of the response to sexual violence were much less often addressed explicitly in the guidelines. This strategy observed some of the largest differences between the reported existence of approaches and their perceived reach.
Education and life skills
Moreover, although this strategy received some of the highest responses when asked about the existence of approaches, it is important to note that substantial inequalities in the availability and access to necessary services remain, especially for marginalized groups of children. Although a comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness of feedback approaches was not included in this report, it is clear that future efforts must address this gap in an effort to improve the availability, access, acceptability, and quality of approaches for all children.
Regional and subregional differences remain
Reach is insufficient across the Region
Percentage of countries where national-level INSPIRE prevention and response approaches were considered to reach all or nearly all in need. These potential disparities are particularly concerning, as evidence shows that rates of violence and related risk and protective factors vary across population groups, with groups in conditions of vulnerability often facing the greatest risk of violence.
Conclusions and recommendations
Strengthening regional or subregional dialogue between countries and partners to foster learning about what works to prevent and respond to violence against children. Preventing and responding to violence against children in the Region, so that they can enjoy long and healthy lives, has never been more timely or more important than now.
Background
It complements the Global Status Report on the Prevention of Violence against Children 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Office of the Special Representative of the General the Secretary for Violence against Children (SRSG-VAC) and the Global Partnership for the Elimination of Violence against Children (End Violence) (3). The report provides a more in-depth analysis of strategies and approaches to prevent and respond to violence against children in America.
Objectives and audience of this Report
31 countries (89% of PAHO Member States) responded to the survey.3 Data collection was conducted through a consensus approach led by National Data Coordinators (NDCs), usually from the Ministry of Health or a partner government sector involved in the prevention and response to violence against children. Information gathered through the study was supplemented with selected data from recent global, regional and/or national population-based studies on violence against children, as well as scientific and gray literature on the prevalence and consequences of and strategies to prevent and respond to violence. against children in America.
Structure of this report
Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/detail joint-leader-s-statement---violence-against-children-a-hidden-crisis-of-the-covid-19-pandemic. Available at: https://www.paho.org/en/documents/infographic-addressing-domestic-violence-context-covid-19-policymakers.
Why is violence an urgent priority?
More information on the methodology can be found in the appendix of the Global Status Report. The same review estimates that 58% of children between the ages of 2-17 in Latin America and 61% in North America have experienced physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse in the past year (9). A global systematic review of self-reported child maltreatment found that significant gaps remain in evidence on child maltreatment, particularly in South America (10).
Physical violence
The most studied topic in the literature was the prevalence of sexual violence, followed by physical violence, emotional violence and finally neglect. Of all regional groups, North America has conducted the largest number of neglect studies, showing a prevalence rate of 41% for girls and 17%.
School-related violence
For example, 28% of children in Uruguay (51), 36% in Chile (52) and 77% in Argentina (53) reported negative experiences online in the past year, for example unpleasant or disturbing messages.
Youth violence
The literature also points to the intersections between gang violence and violence against women and girls (70). Young women and girls in the region may be recruited into gangs for specific tasks, for example drug packaging and smuggling, or be exposed to sexual and gender-based violence by gang members, including sex trafficking and exploitation.
Sexual violence
Bogotá: Government of Colombia, Ministry of Health and Social Protection; 2019; (ii) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tegucigalpa: Government of Honduras, Under-Secretariat of Preventive Security, Secretariat of Security; 2019; and (iv) the Government of El Salvador.
Intimate partner violence, including dating violence
About 25% of women and girls in Latin America and the Caribbean are married and/or cohabiting by age 18, about 5%. The World Health Organization estimates that in 2016, interpersonal violence among young women and girls aged 15 to 29 years accounted for 7,857 deaths in the Americas region (92).
Violence against
The figure for Latin America and the Caribbean has been stable for over twenty years (87). In this context, it should be emphasized that adolescent pregnancies remain a major challenge in the Americas, with an estimated 63 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19 in Latin America and the Caribbean in the period 2015-2020, compared to a global average of 42.5 per 1,000 for the same time frame (88).
Child marriage affects a significant number of girls in the region, as well as a smaller proportion of boys (85). Source: World Health Organization, Center for Disease Control, Global Partnership to End Violence against Children, Pan American Health Organization, Together for Girls, United Nations Children's Fund, etc.
Violence against children results in socio-economic
According to Peterson et al. estimated the annual cost of child abuse in the United States to be US$428 billion in 2015 (122). Although gaps in data and analysis remain, particularly for low- and middle-income countries, available information builds a strong socio-economic case for action to prevent violence against children.
Why does violence occur in the Region of
Another reports the lifetime cost of nonfatal childhood sexual abuse at $282,734 per female victim in the United States, with the cost of fatal childhood sexual abuse estimated to be much higher for male and female victims (121). For example, the World Health Organization estimates that boys are more than four times more likely than girls to die from homicide in America.
Social inequities in the Region related to violence
A gender-sensitive approach recognizes that social and gender norms and practices learned from early childhood by women, men, boys and girls can normalize the use of violence and reinforce its social acceptability (see Boxes 3 and 4). These include addressing gender inequality and harmful norms around masculinity, unemployment, poverty and economic inequality, high levels of crime and community violence, the availability of firearms, the harmful use of alcohol and drugs, and inadequate law enforcement (126).
Broader social
Others pointed to governance and the rule of law as critical factors in understanding violence in the region. Masculinity is social and gender norms, roles and relationships that are typically associated with men and boys.1 Masculinity intersects directly with different forms of violence in the Region and can help to explain why men and boys become involved in and experience violence.
Different forms of violence intersect
Adverse childhood experiences and consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs among adolescents of a Brazilian birth cohort. Trauma changes everything: Exploring the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and serious, violent, and chronic juvenile delinquency.
Violence against children can be prevented, and
The Convention on the Rights of the Child enshrines children's rights to participate, to be heard, to access information and to express opinions on matters that affect them.1 A human rights-based approach to violence prevention underlines the rights of all children in the design, implementation and monitoring of actions. Selected members of the group made valuable contributions to PAHO's expert meeting on youth violence in October 2019, which informed PAHO's approach to youth violence prevention and response and the messages of this report.
- Leadership and governance to prevent
- National action plans and funding
- Availability and use of data to inform policy and
- Strategy-level support to INSPIRE
Reflecting global trends, regional averages indicate that implementation and enforcement of laws is the strategy most supported in the Americas (83%). Support for norms and values is relatively lower in the non-Latin Caribbean and South America.
Non-Latin Carribbean (N: 10)
At the sub-regional level, implementation and enforcement of laws is the most supported strategy in the Americas and the non-Latin Caribbean. In Central America, education and life skills are the most supported strategy, followed by implementation and enforcement of laws, and then response and support services.
Central America (N:9)
Gaps remain in all subregions in terms of strategy-level support for safe environments and income and economic empowerment (see Figure 14).
South America (N: 9)
North America (N:3)
Achievements related to each INSPIRE strategy
- Implementation and enforcement of laws
Laws can be critical tools for preventing and responding to violence against children, and can be used in many different ways. This includes laws prohibiting statutory rape and other forms of contact and non-contact sexual violence against children. 9.
Corporal punishment of children Corporal punishment is a pervasive
Firearms as a risk factor for violence
There are gaps in laws, especially in the Non-Latin Caribbean and to a lesser extent in Central and South America. Given the high rates of youth violence in the region, greater attention is called for on the issue of weapons on school grounds, coupled with broader efforts to address the social determinants of violence.
Harmful use of alcohol as a risk factor for violence
Almost all states in the Americas have established minimum legal ages for alcohol purchases (91% for off-premise, and 100% for on-premise sales), although ages range from 16 to 21, with 18 being the most common. Although the regulation of marketing is important to prevent alcohol initiation and excessive consumption by minors, significant gaps remain in the Americas, where only two countries have a ban on at least one type of media, and two have restrictions of any type on digital marketing ( 223).
Victim compensation and legal representation laws
Gaps in quality and enforcement The existence of these laws is only a first
Norms and values
Moreover, impunity is a major challenge in the region, highlighting the high social acceptability of violence against girls and boys in the Americas (225, 226). Risk communication and community mobilization campaigns have been launched in many countries to raise awareness of the increased risk of violence against women, children and the elderly in the context of COVID-19 isolation measures.
Safe environments
Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of the Peace Management Initiative as an intervention to reduce the homicide rate in a community in Kingston, Jamaica. Reducing violence against children: a multi-country evaluation of UNICEF-led interventions in the Latin America and Caribbean region.
Parent and caregiver support Mothers, fathers and caregivers have
Yes, national sub-national None Note: The number of reporting countries is 31 for the Americas Region. Home visits Center-based interventions Note: The number of reporting countries is 31 for the Americas Region.
Income and economic strengthening
COVID-19 has led to unprecedented changes to lives and livelihoods in the region of the Americas, including a significant and potentially long-lasting socioeconomic impact. For example, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) predicts a decrease in economic growth of -9.1%, an increase in unemployment to 13.5%, an increase in the poverty rate of 7.0%, combined with growing inequalities.
Response and support services
Given the burden of violence on public health, responding to violence against children is an important mandate of the health care system. Of the 35 countries, 60% (21 countries) reported that they had at least one protocol, guideline or standard operating procedure to guide the health care system's response to violence against children.
Education and life skills It is critical to equip children with needed
Children with disabilities, children in institutions, homeless children and migrant or returnee children may experience special risks and needs in connection with violence. Violence against children in the Americas region takes multiple, intersecting forms, all of which have significant health, social and economic consequences.
Strengths and limitations
This status report provides valuable data on the status and perceived reach of country efforts to prevent and respond to violence against children. The report is the first of its kind, and provides a detailed overview of the region's response to violence against children, including achievements in establishing multisectoral mechanisms, developing policies and laws, and advancing approaches in line with the INSPIRE framework.
Key messages and next steps
Violence against children in Latin America and the Caribbean: What available data reveal about prevalence and perpetrators. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-children; (iii) World Health Organization.
