International Standards and Norms
Related to the Elimination ofViolence against Children
Dr. Sita Sumrit
Chief of the Women and Children Empowerment Programme
Thailand Institute of Justice“Over the last decade, recognition of the pervasive nature and impactof violence against children has grown. Still, the phenomenon remains“Over the last decade, recognition of the pervasive nature and impact ofviolence against children has grown. Still, the phenomenon remains largely

undocumented and underreported. This can be attributed to avariety of reasons, including the fact that some forms of violence againstchildren are socially accepted, tacitly condoned or not perceived as being
abusive. Many victims are too young or too vulnerable to disclose theirexperience or to protect themselves. And all too often when victims dodenounce an abuse, the legal system fails to respond andchild protection services are unavailable.”(UNICEF, 2014)

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United Nations

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
The first legally binding
international agreement settingout the civil, political, economicand social and cultural rights ofevery child, regardless of theirrace, religion or abilities

United Nations

Convention on the Rights of the Child
Protection
from violence,
abuseor neglect

Educationthat enables
children tofulfil theirpotential

Express theiropinions andbe listened toLife, survival
anddevelopment
Outlining the Rightsof Every Child16

Be raised by,or have a
relationshipwith theirparents

163RD INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTʼS LECTURES

United Nations

Convention on the Rights of the Child

Monitored by theCommittee on theRights of the Child

United Nations

Convention on the Rights of the Child
Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict
Ensures that no children under 18 years of age are forcibly recruited into armedforces
Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child
Pornography
Prohibits child prostitution, child pornography and the sale of children intoslavery
Optional Protocol on a Communications Procedure
Enables children whose rights have been violated to complain directly to theUNCRC Committee

3 Optional Protocols
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United Nations

Convention on the Rights of the Child
Adopted in May 2000
and entered into forcein January 2002
Prohibits:• sale of children• child prostitution• child pornography

Delineates:• Criminal,civil andDelineates
administrative responsibility forparticipation in the offenses
denied• Jurisdiction and extradition• Prohibits:
Mutual Legal Assistanceof children• salePrevention
prostitution• ••Thechildrights ofchild victims
childpornography• International assistance andcooperation

Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children,Child Prostitution and Child Pornography

United Nations

Convention on the Rights of the ChildJapan – Punishing Acts related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and for ProtectingChildren (1999 – amended in 2004)
Complies with many of the requirements of the Optional Protocol“It prohibits the prostitution of any child below the age of 18 and defines prostitution broadly toinclude not only intercourse but also “similar” acts and acts “for the purpose of satisfying one’ssexual curiosity”. The use of child prostitutes is punishable by five years’ imprisonment and thefacilitation of child prostitution by imprisonment for seven years. Production, distribution, sale,possession or transportation of child pornography as a business is punishable by up to three years ofimprisonment. Legal entities whose employees commit such crimes can be fined up to 10 million
yen. The law gives Japanese courts jurisdiction over nationals involved in child prostitution and childprostitution abroad, and recognizes the duty to provide children who have suffered mental or
physical damage, or both, as a result of prostitution or pornography, with protection and recovery
assistance. According to ECPAT, the amendment to the law “has had a significant deterrent effect.”
UNICEF, 2009

Delineates

Prohibits:
sale of children• child prostitution• child pornography18

163RD INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTʼS LECTURES

United Nations

Convention on the Rights of the ChildA legally binding
instrument

State parties areincreasingly adopting
National Plans of Action

Relatively
consistentmonitoring efforts

Optional Communications
Procedure allows individuals tofile complaints with theCommittee for violations of
their rights under theconvention if domestic
remedies have been exhausted

Successes
United Nations

Convention on the Rights of the Child
After 26 years of the CRC’s adoption, the numberof children not in school, children sufferingfrom preventable diseases, child labour, andchildren in detention facilities are still high
Delayed progressin legal reformResistance to State interventions(formal criminal justice process)to comprehensively protect
children from violence

Challenges
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United Nations

Convention on the Rights of the Child
Despite CRC Committee’s emphasis that all corporalpunishment should be prohibited, even with the family,<40 countries have reformed their laws to prohibit corporalpunishment in the family rooted in the principle of“reasonable” or “moderate” chastisement of children
within the private sphere
LEGAL CHANGE ≠SOCIAL CHANGE

Challenges

At least 58 million children are not inschool. 168 million children are engaged
in child labour and every year, anestimated 14 million girls around theglobe (38,000 per day) are married before
they reach 18 years of age

United Nations

Convention on the Rights of the Child

Harmonization of of existing national legal provisions onchildren with the provisions of the CRC:
External harmonization and Internal harmonization

Challenges
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163RD INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTʼS LECTURES

United Nations

Convention on the Rights of the Child
Need for robust
legal reform

Improvement ofpublic education
on child rights
Comprehensive
overhaul of policyframeworkWays Forward
United Nations Model Strategies and Practical Measrureson the Elimination of Violence against Children
in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal JusticeFirst international instrument to fully articulate theresponsibility of the police and other criminal justiceinstitutions and agencies to prevent and respond toviolence against children
A new set of international standards and norms adopted by theUNGA in De 2014 that are grounded in the CRC to not only
improve the effectiveness of the criminal justice system inpreventing and responding to VAC but also to protect against anyviolence that may result from their contact with the system (TIJ,2015)

Overview
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United Nations Model Strategies and Practical Measrureson the Elimination of Violence against Children
in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

Generalprevention
strategies
Part I

Strategies toStrategies topreventand respond
improve the abilityof the criminal justice to violence against
system to respond children within thejustice system
to VACPart II

Part III

Overview
How can the model strategies on VAC be used?

Used by States asGuidelines

Used as abenchmark forreview and gap
identificationsand priorities
setting

Used to identify area ofwork and collaboration(monitoring and sharing
best practices)

IIIIII

Remind you about specific rights of child at different
stages of the justice process22

163RD INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTʼS LECTURES

United Nations Model Strategies and Practical Measrureson the Elimination of Violence against Children
in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal JusticeClash with theThe soft law,
context of some non-legallycultures and binding nature,religions, such as
and thechild marriages openness toand corporal interpretations
punishment

No monitoringmechanismand lack ofspeciallytrainedpersonnel tofacilitate
implementation

Challenges
The ASEAN Regional Plan of Action

on the Elimination of Violence against Children
Adopted inNovember 2015

Echoed the commitment of
ASEAN member states toimplement the 2013
Declaration on theElimination of Violenceagainst Women and Children

Delineates concrete
actions forimplementation
between 2016-2025

Anticipates the need foraction on emerging risks tochildren’s protection fromviolence due to the adventof new technologies

Overview
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The International Legal Framework

Status of Key International Conventions andExtraterritorial Legislation

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163RD INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
VISITING EXPERTʼS LECTURES

After all these years and standards and norms…
During these decades of CRC implementation we all grow tounderstand that unless we address the basic underlying
factors, such as legal identity, multi-dimensional childpoverty, family and other enabling (safeguarding)environments, and spaces for child participation – we may
not be able to protect our children.

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