Violence, Poverty, Inequality, and Children at Risk

Poverty and Violence Against Children

• Violence against children occurs in all settings, including economic affluence.
• The risk of violence against children increases in areas of poverty and disadvantage.
• Poverty and deprivation impact children's development, increasing risks of poor health, poor school
performance, and long-term welfare dependency.
• Poverty undermines support systems, leading to higher incidences of domestic violence and street
violence.
• Children, especially girls, may be compelled to drop out of school to contribute to household income.
• Poverty contributes to a profound lack of self-esteem, making it difficult for poor children to speak up.
• Violence erodes the livelihoods, assets, and skills of the poorest households.

Income Inequality and Violence Against Children

• Income inequality, not income level, is a key factor in violent crime.
• Countries with more unequal income distribution tend to have higher crime rates.
• Challenges to child protection are more difficult to overcome when compounded by social exclusion
and discrimination.
• As many as 100 million children live or work on the streets, facing daily discrimination, violence, and
exploitation.
• Without a legal domicile, children may face challenges obtaining a birth certificate or identity
document.

Violence Against Children with Disabilities and HIV and AIDS

Violence Against Children with Disabilities

• Over 5% of children below 14 worldwide experience some form of moderate to severe disability.
• Around 80% of adults and children with disabilities live in developing countries.
• Disability prevalence is higher among children from minorities and poorer households.
• Poverty and disability often coexist, with poverty contributing to disability and vice versa.
• Children with disabilities are more likely to experience physical, psychological, or sexual violence.
• They are less likely to be reached by prevention programs or targeted protection services.
• Girls with intellectual impairments are particularly vulnerable.

HIV and AIDS and Violence against Children

• Poverty, discrimination, violence, and social invisibility are daily realities for most children affected by
or living with HIV and AIDS.
• Adolescents with disabilities are at particular risk of HIV infection due to lack of information, difficulty
in accessing sex education programs, and higher levels of violence and sexual abuse.
• HIV and AIDS have devastated communities and families, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, increasing
the likelihood of a child being exposed to violence, abuse, or exploitation.
• Violence fuels the HIV epidemic, especially among girls, with rape, sexual abuse, child marriage, age-
disparate sex, and harmful traditional beliefs and practices increasing the likelihood of exposure.
Violence Against Children in Care and Justice Institutions
• Institutional care for children with disabilities is particularly vulnerable, with an estimated 317,000
children living in institutions in the CEE/CIS region and Baltic States in 2002.
• Institutions may not be registered with authorities, making oversight impossible.
• Staff are often ill-trained and poorly paid, and there may be no norms and standards to regulate their
activities.
• Monitoring systems are weak and ineffective, and there is little or no access to safe complaint and
reporting mechanisms.
• Children in institutions are at increased risk of neglect and social isolation, making them 'easy targets'
for violence and abuse.
• Children involved with the justice system are often deprived of liberty for minor crimes or as a result of
an ill-functioning child protection system.
• Other groups at a particularly high risk of marginalization and exclusion include indigenous children,
those belonging to ethnic, linguistic, cultural or religious minorities, children impacted by migration,
refugee and asylum-seeking children, and children whose births have not been officially registered.

Armed and Community Violence, and Organized Crime

• The boundaries between political, criminal, and intimate violence have become increasingly blurred,
provoking fear and insecurity.
• An estimated 526,000 people die violently every year worldwide, with only a small minority of these
deaths taking place during armed conflicts.
• Women and girls are predominantly the targets of intimate and gender-based violence, and family-
related homicide is the major cause of female deaths in many nations.
• Armed violence is not the preserve of criminals and criminal groups; it is also used by state security in
many countries.
• High levels of violence and lack of security compromise human development, leading to higher levels
of poverty, hunger, lower primary education enrolment, higher infant mortality rates, and higher birth
rates among adolescents.
• High levels of violence and the extensive use of firearms undermine a child’s protective environment
and increase stress levels within families.

Organized Crime, Gang Violence, and the Criminalization of Children

Children's Role in Organized Crime

• Children, especially from poor families and communities, are attractive targets for organized criminal
activities.
• They are recruited through coercion, social pressure, or the promise of financial reward.
• They are recruited to hold or deliver drugs, weapons, contraband, beg in the streets, carry out petty
crime and thefts, or provide commercial sexual services.

Gang Culture and Children's Engagement

• Gang culture can appeal to children and young people due to lack of opportunities and social
exclusion.
• Recent studies suggest that up to 15% of all youth within gang-affected communities can end up
joining a gang.

Global Gang Membership

• Estimates indicate 2 to 10 million gang members worldwide, mainly young, urban males, often
unemployed, and from low-income groups.
• Girls and young women constitute a growing proportion of gang members, with gang homicide rates
estimated to be up to 100 times higher than homicide rates among the general population.

Public Perception and Policing

• Media reports and political agendas can fuel public perception that all young people in certain
neighborhoods are dangerous criminals, legitimizing severe or violent policing methods against
vulnerable children.
• The perceived threat of juvenile delinquency increases social pressure for the criminalization of
children and adolescents, leading to arbitrary arrest, physical abuse, and summary execution of children.

Child Trafficking and Its Global Impact

Centro American Gang Wars

• In Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, an oppressive 'war on gangs' was implemented, involving
the imprisonment of youths as young as 12.
• This aggressive approach led to the stigmatization of gang members, radicalization of members, and a
downward spiral of violence.
• The approach has been replaced by interventions focusing on the underlying causes of violence.

Children in Criminal Activities

• Children who participate in criminal activities are often victims of exploitation and manipulation.
• Criminal organizations exploit children's special protection under the law.
• In countries where the minimum age of criminal responsibility excludes the possibility of convicting
children, they become attractive recruits for criminal networks.

Trafficking in Children
• Trafficking is a global phenomenon, with at least 136 nationalities trafficked and detected in 118
countries.
• It is linked to poverty and inequality and is a form of violence and violation of a child’s human rights.
• Between 2007 and 2010, almost half of all trafficking victims detected worldwide were trafficked
across borders within their region of origin.
• The numbers of child victims of trafficking are increasing, with an estimated 1 million children being
coerced, kidnapped, sold, and deceived into child prostitution or child pornography each year.
• Trafficking for sexual exploitation, forced labour, and begging are particularly common.
• Trafficking is a global business that promises attractive financial returns for criminal networks.
Climate Change, Food Insecurity, and Natural Disasters Impact on Children

Climate Change and Natural Disasters

• Devastate national and local economies, physical infrastructure, and social support structures,
affecting children's safety and wellbeing.
• Global food insecurity and water scarcity compromise national economies and generate stress and
anxiety within families and communities.
• Children are at greater risk of neglect, injury, and abuse due to competition over diminishing
environmental resources.

Human Cost of Climate Change

• Threats to traditional farming practices and agricultural yields for small farmers.
• Entry of certain plant and livestock diseases into previously unknown regions.
• Threats to the livelihood of fishing communities due to changes in sea temperatures and ocean
currents.

Children's Vulnerability to Violence

• Increased domestic violence and likelihood of children becoming victims of exploitation.
• Growing numbers of displaced persons seeking to escape the impact of climate change.

Drought and Famine

• Heightens children’s vulnerability to violence.
• Survival strategies can harm children, such as denying adequate nutrition to girls to ensure sufficient
food for their brothers.

World Food Price Crisis

• Fuelled by climate change, rising fertilizer prices, loss of agricultural land to agribusinesses, and
increased cultivation of monocultures.
• Volatile food prices create uncertainty for many households and stretch family budgets, resulting in
risks for children.

Natural Disasters
• Severe floods and mass displacement in Pakistan in 2010 exposed children to heightened risks.
• Haiti's earthquake in January 2010 heightened vulnerability of Haiti’s children to abandonment,
trafficking, abuse, and exploitation.

Children Affected by Migration and Displacement

Children Affected by Migration

• The number of people on the move has increased due to economic opportunities, political instability,
violence, discrimination, climate change, and natural disasters.
• International migrants, with approximately one third of migrants from developing countries aged 12-
24, are a significant part of this population.
• Children of seasonal migrants who travel with parents face increased vulnerability to exploitation,
coercion, violence, abuse, theft, and trafficking.

Child Labour Risks

• Children of seasonal migrants who travel with parents are particularly vulnerable to exploitation,
coercion, violence, abuse, theft, and trafficking when they are unaccompanied.
• Most independent child migrants, especially younger children, are internal migrants in developing
countries.

Challenges Faced by Migrant Girls

• Migrant girls often leave their families to get married, contribute to family finances, access education,
avoid a forced or arranged marriage, or escape sexual abuse.
• They are particularly vulnerable at transport hubs or border crossings.

Child Migration Risks

• Child migrants often cross borders without proper documentation and identification, increasing their
risk of exploitation, detention, and imprisonment.
• Lack of documentation is an obstacle to accessing basic social services, including education and health
care, and protection services required to address the incidents of violence migrant children may endure
and to ensure their recovery and social reintegration.

Policy Responses and Vulnerability

• Policy responses are fragmented and fail to protect the rights of child migrants or offer genuine
opportunities for their personal development.
• Sending children back to their place of origin without understanding why they left can put them at
greater risk of abuse, violence, conflict, or extreme poverty.

Children Left Behind

• Children 'left behind' as parents and caregivers seek economic opportunities elsewhere are a growing
concern.
• Without the protection of parents, children left behind may have to drop out of school to carry out
household chores or look after younger siblings, making them more vulnerable to violence.

Global Survey on Violence Against Children

• Children often forced to leave their home due to natural disasters, human rights abuses, and violent
conflict.
• UNHCR estimates 15.2 million refugees worldwide by 2011, with 46% of them being children.
• Children face sexual violence, stigma, discrimination, and struggle with new languages.
• As of 2011, there were 26.4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) worldwide, with children being
a particularly vulnerable segment.
• Lack of data limits the response to these issues, with data collection in only 11 of 50 countries with IDP
populations.
• New technologies like mobile phone technology, internet-based communication networks, and social
media present challenges and opportunities for children.