DID YOU know that Nov. 20 was World Children’s Day and the 30th year of ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child? Sadly, these were not given enough attention.
The Philippines is the 31st country to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, a landmark legal document that highlights the rights of every child to life, survival and development; protection from violence, abuse and neglect; education that enables children to fulfil their potential; be raised by, or have a relationship with, their parents; and express their opinions and be listened to.
The convention tasks governments to adopt legislative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parents, legal guardians and person who has the care of the child.
So far, 58 countries have stepped up legislation to ban corporal punishment on children in schools, at home and in communities. More push is needed.
Every five minutes, a child dies of violence across the world, according to Save the Children’s Ending Violence in Childhood Report in 2017. It revealed a staggering 1.7 billion children who experience violence in many forms and 80 per cent of the incidents happen at home.
In the Philippines, three out of five children suffer one or two forms of violence at home and often, parents, siblings and relatives are the perpetrators, according to the 2015 National Baseline Study on Violence against Children conducted by the Council for the Welfare of Children.
Violence takes place at home, in school, online platforms, in communities and in armed conflict and in disasters. Physical and humiliating punishment violates a child’s physical integrity, human dignity and equal protection of the law.
Save the Children, a global movement that advocates for children’s rights in 120 countries, calls for an end to all forms of violence against children. Yes, all children have a right to a childhood without violence.
