The cost of violence against children

Viewpoint by the SRSG Santos Pais
The prevention and elimination of violence against children is an ethical imperative founded on the human dignity of children and their rights to protection from maltreatment enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols, as well as a range of other human rights instruments. The almost universal ratification of the CRC is a potent symbol of the global consensus around the principle that no violence is ever justifiable and all violence can be prevented.
At the same time, there is growing awareness that VAC has significant short, medium and long-term economic costs that are borne by individuals, communities and societies. Realizing the right of children to a life free from violence requires public expenditure on child protection and criminal justice systems to safeguard them from harm. At the same time, investment in prevention programmes is required in order to reduce the costs to individuals and society.
Read more
Read the report
"Toward a World Free from Violence: Global Survey on Violence against Children"
View infographics
For more information on the cost of violence:
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UNICEF Factsheet "Estimating the Economic Burden of Violence against Children in East Asia and the Pacific"
-study by Child Abuse Prevention Research Australia (2007)
-Copenhagen Consensus
-study by UK Overseas Development Institute commissioned by Child Fund Alliance