3, 6 and 10 September 2021, Bosnia and Herzegovina/online - The issue of child victims and witnesses of crime and in particular the issue of child sexual violence has been receiving increased national and international attention in recent years. Millions of children throughout the world suffer from harm as a result of crime and sexual violence. Yet, the rights of these children have not been adequately recognized or respected, and they may suffer additional hardship when assisted in the justice process.
Member States increasingly face challenges when attempting to combine effective prevention and responses to address this form of violence against children, and when adopting and implementing a child- and gender-sensitive approach that upholds children’s rights and safeguards public security. These challenges are exacerbated due to a lack of collection and analysis of segregated data, which limits identifying and addressing gender dynamics, as well as a failure to acknowledge that children (girls and boys) differ from adults (men and women) in their physical, mental and psychological developmental needs and vulnerabilities, and subsequently, differentiated responses and treatment should be directed solely at children.
Against this background, UNODC, as a key agency in supporting Member States in preventing and responding to violence and crime and ensuring that children are better served and protected by justice systems, organized a series of three webinars on “Ensuring Child-Sensitive Communication and Appropriate Approaches for Child Victims”, targeting professionals and practitioners across Bosnia and Herzegovina who are in contact with child victims in order to strengthen their capacity to deal with cases involving sexual violence against children more effectively, focusing in particular on approaches, effective practices and concrete steps to protect better these children.
Over 30 participants attended the series of webinars which tackled the topic of prevention and response to sexual violence against children and provided participants with approaches and practical guidance to support government efforts already underway to treat child victims better in line with international law. The webinars also presented how practitioners can contribute to protecting children from re-traumatization and secondary victimization while in contact with child victims.
As a result of the webinars, the participants were able to increase their understanding of child development, children’s rights, and the negative impact of violence on children as well as on how to engage children as active participants in their own protection process and rehabilitation experience. In addition, they gained knowledge on the relevant international legal framework applicable to child victims and on how to engage with children and build trust through child-, gender- and victim-sensitive communication; and how to improve professional-child relationships by establishing positive communication.
This series of webinars were conducted by the UNODC Global Programme to End Violence against Children (Global Programme to END VAC) in cooperation with the UNODC Regional Programme for South Eastern Europe
For more information
Visit: https://www.unodc.org/southeasterneurope/
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