PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN
Authors: Dimitrijoska Sunchica 
Published: April 2022

As stipulated in Article 19, paragraph 1 The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, „violence“ may be „all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse". Violence does not recognize any cultural or social differences and is not necessarily always reflected in the same form. No matter in what conditions or forms it occurs, violence leaves behind long-term, devastating, and indelible consequences. In developed countries, the problem of violence is considered a national problem and there are programs that coordinate different sectors of the society (education, health, justice, social work and others) that carry out various synchronized activities and take various measures to restrain and prevent violence against children. In the literature you can find suggestions for programs designed to prevent or reduce violence against children, but also treatment of emotional and behavioral problems in children and adolescents. Prevention should contribute for raising public awareness on the situation of violence against children, familiarizing the citizens with the rights of children and a healthy family, successful parenting, protection of children from addictions, perceiving and overcoming problems related to education and upbringing of children. The analysis of the data collected by associations of citizens indicates that we can draw a conclusion that there is a harmonization of the national legal framework with international documents and standards on children's rights and their protection, and above all, with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.[1] There is a lack of coordination in the planning and implementation of preventive activities, both in terms of time distribution and in terms of geographical coverage. There is a big difference in the intensity of the implementation of campaigns in different municipalities. Most campaigns are conducted in larger municipalities but not in continuous manner. As stipulated in Article 19, paragraph 1 The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, „violence“ may be „all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse". Violence does not recognize any cultural or social differences and is not necessarily always reflected in the same form. No matter in what conditions or forms it occurs, violence leaves behind long-term, devastating, and indelible consequences. In developed countries, the problem of violence is considered a national problem and there are programs that coordinate different sectors of the society (education, health, justice, social work and others) that carry out various synchronized activities and take various measures to restrain and prevent violence against children. In the literature you can find suggestions for programs designed to prevent or reduce violence against children, but also treatment of emotional and behavioral problems in children and adolescents. Prevention should contribute for raising public awareness on the situation of violence against children, familiarizing the citizens with the rights of children and a healthy family, successful parenting, protection of children from addictions, perceiving and overcoming problems related to education and upbringing of children. The analysis of the data collected by associations of citizens indicates that we can draw a conclusion that there is a harmonization of the national legal framework with international documents and standards on children's rights and their protection, and above all, with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.[1] There is a lack of coordination in the planning and implementation of preventive activities, both in terms of time distribution and in terms of geographical coverage. There is a big difference in the intensity of the implementation of campaigns in different municipalities. Most campaigns are conducted in larger municipalities but not in continuous manner.