Authors
Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services, European Parliament, Prpic, Martina
- Catalogue number
- QA-01-24-054-EN-N
- Citation
- European Parliament: Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services and Prpic, M., Violence against children in the European Union – Current situation , European Parliament, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2861/1301966
- DOI
- https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2861/1301966
- ISBN
- 978-92-848-2379-6
- Pages
- 31
- Published in
- Belgium
- Themes
- Fundamental rights , Social problems
Table of Contents
- 1. Protection of children 7
- 1.1. Vulnerability, rights and protection 7
- 1.2. Child protection systems 7
- United Nations' definition of a child 7
- UNICEF definition of child protection 7
- 2. Violence: Omnipresent and multifaceted 8
- 2.1. What is violence? 8
- 2.2. Definition of violence against children 8
- 2.2.1. Perpetrators of acts of violence against children 9
- 2.2.2. Forms and contexts 9
- At home and in the family 9
- At school and in the educational environment 10
- Within child protection institutions and the services of the judiciary 10
- At the workplace 11
- Within the community 11
- Internet-related risks 11
- 2.2.3. Consequences 12
- Cost of violence in human terms 12
- Economic and social costs 12
- 2.2.4. Extent of the problem 13
- Table 1 – Child deaths in the EU resulting from interpersonal violence; deaths per 100 000 inhabitants, 2021 14
- UNICEF and WHO estimates 15
- Child helplines and contact points 17
- 2.3. The root causes of an avoidable problem 17
- 2.3.1. Risk factors 17
- 2.3.2. Importance of prevention 18
- UNCRC definition of violence against children 8
- Figure 1 – Sex-disaggregated data of child suicides by Member State, per 100 000 inhabitants, in 2021 16
- Figure 2 – Causes of child abuse, as illustrated by the 'ecological' model 17
- 3. Principal international instruments and frameworks 19
- 3.1. The United Nations framework 19
- 3.1.1. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 19
- 3.1.2. Additional protocols to the UNCRC 20
- 3.2. Council of Europe standards 20
- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and child protection 20
- 4. How the European Union addresses violence against children 22
- 4.1. Children's rights in the European Union 22
- 4.2. Protecting children from violence 23
- 4.2.1. Political framework 23
- EU strategy on the rights of the child (2021-2024) 23
- EU guidelines for the promotion and protection of the rights of the child (2017) 24
- EU strategy for a more effective fight against child sexual abuse (2020-2025) 24
- Commission recommendation on integrated child protection systems 24
- 4.2.2. Key legislative measures 25
- 4.2.3. The role of the European Parliament 26
- 4.3. National approaches 27
- The Daphne programme 23
- EU guidelines for the protection of children 25
- 5. Outlook 28