A World without Violence against Children: Children and Young People's Voices and Recommendations for the Post 2015 Agenda

"Children and young people have shared their views and messages to create a world without violence against children. They emphasise that prevention and response to violence is essential to ensuring children's rights to protection, survival, development, and participation."

This Save the Children report shares recommendations and messages from girls and boys aged 8-17 years who took part in face-to-face consultations about the post-2015 agenda. These consultations were organised and reported on by various child-focused agencies between 2012 and 2013. Amongst the more than 12,000 children and young people from diverse backgrounds across 70 countries covering every region of the world who participated, violence against children was prioritised as one of their most significant concerns that must be addressed in the post-2015 agenda.

Children and young people recommend increased efforts to:

• "Support families so that all children can live in and be cared for by families, including children with disabilities. Family separation and violence in families should be prevented by: increasing local job opportunities for parents; providing more economic and practical support to families to better care for their children; and increasing parenting education for fathers, mothers and other caregivers.
• Strengthen legislation, monitoring and reporting to respond to all forms of violence against children, including stricter enforcement of laws to punish perpetrators who abuse, harm or exploit children.
• Raise awareness to prevent all forms of violence against children.
• Provide child protection services including: psychosocial support, parenting education, legal advice, assistance for children or women who have suffered abuse, and services for family members to prevent and overcome drug or alcohol use.
• Ensure all children access safe schools where codes of conduct prevent and address violence in schools; and promote schools as a space for prevention and protection against violence. The school curricula should include: sexual and reproductive health, prevention of teenage pregnancy; prevention of human trafficking, sexual exploitation etc.
• Address discrimination based on gender, disability, family income, ethnicity, religion, care status, sexual orientation, and other factors.
• Prevent conflict and support peace building in communities, schools and families.
• Ensure all boys and girls have opportunities to rest and to play.
• Ensure children's participation in decision making, access to information, and support for child led organisations and action initiatives. Children have asked to be involved in policy and practice developments affecting them, including opportunities to influence the development, implementation and monitoring of the post 2015 agenda."

As indicated above, one thread running throughout this document is the importance of networking and participation. "Through their own groups, associations and networks, girls and boys are more aware of their rights and are taking action to prevent and respond to different forms of violence and exploitation. They request increased support from parents, teachers, elders, civil society actors and government officials at all levels to partner with them and to take their views seriously. Children's rights to information, expression, association and participation in decision making should be more supported."