Social Justice

KEY POINTS

Impacts of Childhood violence

·         The damage goes far beyond immediate trauma and fear, extending through many aspects of a child’s life, affecting her or his health, and education, and restricting future life opportunities.

·         Violence can lead to longer-term child depression and behavioural problems, post-traumatic stress, anxiety and eating disorders.

·         Impacts on mental health, in turn, can influence a range of outcomes, making young people more vulnerable to substance abuse and poor reproductive and sexual health.

·         Another consequence is poor educational achievement.

·         The impacts of early experience of violence can extend well into adulthood.

·         Many social, health and economic problems can be traced back to childhood experiences.

·         Young people who have been victims of sexual abuse often feel shame and blame themselves, and can be at greater risk of repeated suicide attempts.

·         Whether they are suffering or witnessing abuse, children who grow up with violence in the home learn early and powerful lessons about the use of violence to dominate others.

Strategies to prevent Childhood violence

·         Childhood violence is lower in countries that are committed to a human development agenda, and that prioritize child health and education, particularly of girls.

·         The key to success is recognizing that violence is not a private affair: governments have a duty to protect the rights of their citizens, and this includes a child’s right to live free from fear.

·         The opportunities to prevent violence fall into three categories.

·         Building individual capacities – for example by ensuring children are given life-skills and sex education and empowering parents and caregivers to create safe, supporting, and stimulating spaces for care giving.

·         Embed violence prevention in social services – Schools must become violence-free, end corporal punishment and crack down on bullying.

·         Health professionals, the first responders in every case, need to know, when and how to report suspected abuse, while witnessing an injured child.

·         Governments need to find ways to avoid sending children into institutional care, where the chance of them being abused skyrockets.

·         Eliminate the root cause of violence – Governments must tackle the root causes of violence, which are bound up in issues of gender inequality and social norms that legitimize violence.

·         Perhaps the most immediate task is to break the silence.

·         Violence needs to be spoken about and made visible. Only then can the scale of the problem be understood, taboos shattered, and the cycle broken.

·         This requires both individual courage, and better national monitoring and reporting systems.

·         Violence in childhood will not end until nation-states accord greater priority to human rights and human development agenda. 

Hello sir /mam , Plz review and give your suggestions. and plz clarify my doubt on how to improve answer from being too generalist to mid -general and specialistic