United Nations Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence Against Children in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

A/RES/69/194View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 105Crime prevention and criminal justice, published in 2014.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

4 topics

Child Abuse Child Welfare Crime Prevention Criminal Justice

What does this mandate say?

16 operative paragraphs

Strongly condemns all acts of violence against children, reaffirms the duty of the State to protect children from all forms of violence in both public and private settings, and calls for the elimination of impunity, including by investigating and prosecuting, with due process, and punishing all perpetrators;

Expresses its extreme concern about the secondary victimization of children that may occur within the justice system, and reaffirms the responsibility of States to protect children from this form of violence;

Welcomes the work done at the meeting of the expert group on the development of draft model strategies and practical measures on the elimination of violence against children in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice, held in Bangkok from 18 to 21 February 2014, and takes note with appreciation of its report;

Adopts the United Nations Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Children in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice annexed to the present resolution;

Urges Member States to take all necessary and effective measures, as appropriate, to prevent and respond to all forms of violence against children who come in contact with the justice system as victims, witnesses or alleged or recognized offenders, and to provide for consistency in their laws and policies and in the application thereof in order to promote the implementation of the Model Strategies and Practical Measures;

Also urges Member States to remove any barrier, including any kind of discrimination, that children may face in accessing justice and in effectively participating in criminal proceedings, to pay particular attention to the issue of the rights of the child and the child’s best interests in the administration of justice and to ensure that children in contact with the criminal justice system are treated in a child-sensitive manner, taking into account the specific needs of those children who are in particularly vulnerable situations;

Encourages Member States that have not yet integrated crime prevention and children’s issues into their overall rule of law efforts to do so, and to develop and implement a comprehensive crime prevention and justice system policy, with a view to preventing the involvement of children in criminal activities, promoting the use of alternative measures to detention, such as diversion and restorative justice, adopting reintegration strategies for former child offenders and complying with the principle that deprivation of liberty of children should be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time, as well as to avoid, wherever possible, the use of pretrial detention for children;

Encourages Member States, where appropriate, to strengthen multisectoral coordination among all relevant government agencies in order to better prevent, identify and respond to the multidimensional nature of violence against children and to ensure that criminal justice and other relevant professionals are adequately trained to deal with children;

Also encourages Member States to establish and strengthen child rights monitoring and accountability systems, as well as mechanisms for the systematic research, collection and analysis of data on violence against children and on the systems designed to address violence against children, with a view to assessing the scope and incidence of such violence and the impact of policies and measures adopted to reduce it;

Stresses the importance of preventing incidents of violence against children and of responding in a timely manner to support child victims of violence, including to prevent their revictimization, and invites Member States to adopt knowledge-based, comprehensive and multisectoral prevention strategies and policies to address the factors that give rise to violence against children and that expose them to the risk of violence;

Requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to take steps to ensure the broad dissemination of the Model Strategies and Practical Measures;

Also requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, at the request of Member States, to identify the needs and capacities of countries and to provide technical assistance and advisory services to Member States in order to develop or strengthen, as appropriate, legislation, procedures, policies and practices to prevent and respond to violence against children and to ensure respect for the rights of the child in the administration of justice;

Further requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to closely coordinate with the institutes of the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme and with other relevant national and regional institutes with a view to developing training materials and offering training and other capacity-building opportunities, in particular for practitioners working in the areas of crime prevention and criminal justice and for providers of support services for the victims of violence against children and for child witnesses within the criminal justice system, and to disseminate information on successful practices;

Invites the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and the Human Rights Council, as well as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, the Committee on the Rights of the Child and relevant regional and international intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, to strengthen cooperation in supporting the efforts of States to eliminate all forms of violence against children;

Encourages Member States to promote country-to-country, regional and interregional technical cooperation in sharing best practices in the implementation of the Model Strategies and Practical Measures;

Invites Member States and other donors to provide extrabudgetary contributions for the purposes outlined in the present resolution, in accordance with the rules and procedures of the United Nations.

United Nations Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Children in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

Introduction

The United Nations Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Children in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice have been prepared to help Member States to address the need for integrated strategies for violence prevention and child protection, thereby offering children the protection to which they have an unqualified right.

The Model Strategies and Practical Measures take into consideration the complementary roles of the justice system on the one hand, and the child protection, social welfare, health and education sectors on the other, in creating a protective environment and in preventing and responding to violence against children. They draw attention to the need for Member States to ensure that criminal law is used appropriately and effectively to criminalize various forms of violence against children, including forms of violence prohibited by international law. The Model Strategies and Practical Measures will enable criminal justice institutions to strengthen and focus their efforts to prevent and respond to violence against children, and to increase their diligence in investigating, convicting and rehabilitating perpetrators of violent crimes against children.

The Model Strategies and Practical Measures take into account the fact that children who are alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed criminal law, especially those who are deprived of their liberty, face a high risk of violence. Because special attention must be paid to the especially vulnerable situation of these children, the Model Strategies and Practical Measures are aimed at not only improving the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in preventing and responding to violence against children, but also at protecting children against any violence that may result from their contact with the justice system.

The Model Strategies and Practical Measures reflect the fact that some of the perpetrators of violence against children are themselves children and often victims of violence. The need to protect child victims in such instances cannot negate the rights of all of the children involved to have their best interests considered as a matter of primary importance.

The Model Strategies and Practical Measures are grouped into three broad categories: general prevention strategies to address violence against children as part of broader child protection and crime prevention initiatives; strategies and measures to improve the ability of the criminal justice system to respond to crimes of violence against children and to protect child victims effectively; and strategies and measures to prevent and respond to violence against children in contact with the justice system. Good practices are set forth, to be considered and used by Member States within the framework of their national legal systems in a manner consistent with applicable international instruments, including relevant human rights instruments, and taking into consideration relevant United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice. Member States should be guided by the Model Strategies and Practical Measures to the maximum extent of their available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international cooperation.

Definitions

For the purposes of the Model Strategies and Practical Measures:

“Child” means, as in article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, “every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier”;

A “child protection system” refers to the national legal framework, formal and informal structures, functions and capacities to prevent and respond to violence against and abuse, exploitation and neglect of children;

“Children in contact with the justice system” refers to children who come into contact with the justice system as victims or witnesses, children alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed criminal law, or children who are in any other situation requiring legal proceedings, for example regarding their care, custody or protection, including cases involving children of incarcerated parents;

“Child-sensitive” denotes an approach that takes into consideration the child’s right to protection and individual needs and views in accordance with the age and maturity of the child;

“Child victims” denotes children who are victims of crime regardless of their role in the offence or in the prosecution of the alleged offender or group of offenders;

“Crime prevention” comprises strategies and measures that seek to reduce the risk of crimes occurring and their potential harmful effects on individuals and society, including fear of crime, by intervening to influence the multiple causes of crime;

“Criminal justice system” refers to laws, procedures, professionals, authorities and institutions that apply to victims, witnesses and persons alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed criminal law;

“Deprivation of liberty” means any form of detention or imprisonment or the placement of a person in a public or private custodial setting, from which that person is not permitted to leave at will, by order of any judicial, administrative or other public authority;

“Diversion” refers to a process for dealing with children alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed criminal law as an alternative to judicial proceedings, with the consent of the child and the child’s parents or legal guardian;

“Informal justice system” refers to the resolution of disputes and the regulation of conduct by adjudication or with the assistance of a neutral third party that is not part of the judiciary as established by law and/or whose substantive, procedural or structural foundation is not primarily based on statutory law;

A “juvenile justice system” comprises laws, policies, guidelines, customary norms, systems, professionals, institutions and treatment specifically applicable to children alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed criminal law;

“Legal aid” includes legal advice, assistance and representation for persons detained, arrested or imprisoned as a result of being suspected or accused of or charged with a criminal offence, and for victims and witnesses in the criminal justice process, which is provided at no cost for those without sufficient means or when the interests of justice so require. Furthermore, “legal aid” is intended to include the concepts of legal education, access to legal information and other services provided for persons through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and restorative justice processes;

A “protective environment” is an environment conducive to ensuring to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child, including physical, mental, spiritual, moral, psychological and social development, in a manner compatible with human dignity;

“Restorative justice programme” means any programme that uses restorative processes and seeks to achieve restorative outcomes;

“Restorative process” means any process in which the victim and the offender and, where appropriate, any other individuals or community members affected by a crime participate actively together in the resolution of matters arising from the crime, generally with the help of a facilitator. Restorative processes may include mediation, conciliation, conferencing and sentencing circles;

“Violence” means all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse.

Guiding principles

In implementing the Model Strategies and Practical Measures at the national level, Member States should be guided by the following principles:

That the inherent rights of the child to life, survival and development are protected;

That the right of the child to have his or her best interests as a primary consideration in all matters involving or affecting him or her is respected, whether the child is a victim or a perpetrator of violence, as well as in all measures of prevention and protection;

That every child is protected from all forms of violence without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child’s or his or her parent’s or legal guardian’s race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status;

That the child is informed of his or her rights in an age-appropriate manner and that the right of the child to be consulted and to express his or her views freely in all matters affecting him or her is fully respected;

That all strategies and measures to prevent and respond to violence against children are designed and implemented from a gender perspective that specifically addresses gender-based violence;

That the specific vulnerabilities of children and the situations they find themselves in, including children in need of special protection and children committing criminal offences under the age of criminal responsibility, should be addressed as part of comprehensive violence prevention strategies and identified as a priority for action;

That measures to protect child victims of violence are non-coercive and do not compromise the rights of these children.

Part one

Prohibiting violence against children, implementing broad prevention measures and promoting research and data collection

Child protection should begin with the proactive prevention of violence and the explicit prohibition of all forms of violence. Member States have the duty to take appropriate measures that effectively protect children from all forms of violence.

Ensuring the prohibition by law of all forms of violence against children

Recognizing the importance of the existence of a sound legal framework which prohibits violence against children and empowers authorities to respond appropriately to incidents of violence, Member States are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments, to ensure:

That their laws are comprehensive and effective in prohibiting and eliminating all forms of violence against children and that provisions that justify, allow for or condone violence against children or may increase the risk of violence against children are removed;

That cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of children is prohibited and eliminated in all settings, including schools.

Because a countless number of girls and boys fall victim to harmful practices undertaken under different pretexts or grounds, including female genital mutilation or cutting, forced marriage, breast ironing and witchcraft rituals, Member States are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments:

To establish by law a clear and comprehensive prohibition of all harmful practices against children, supported by detailed provisions in relevant legislation to secure the effective protection of girls and boys from those practices, to provide means of redress and to fight impunity;

To remove from all national legislation any legal provisions that provide justification or allow for consent to harmful practices against children;

To ensure that resorting to informal justice systems does not jeopardize children’s rights or preclude child victims from accessing the formal justice system, and to establish the supremacy of international human rights law.

Recognizing the serious nature of many forms of violence against children and the need to criminalize these conducts, Member States should review and update their criminal law to ensure that the following acts are fully covered thereunder:

Engaging in sexual activities with a child who is under the legal age of consent, ensuring as well that an appropriate “age of protection” or “legal age of consent”, below which a child cannot legally consent to sexual activity, is set;

Engaging in sexual activities with a child using coercion, force or threats, abusing a position of trust, authority or influence over a child, including within the family, and abusing a particularly vulnerable situation of a child, because of a mental or physical disability or a situation of dependence;

Committing sexual violence against a child, including sexual abuse, sexual exploitation and sexual harassment through or facilitated by the use of new information technologies, including the Internet;

The sale of or trafficking in children for any purpose and in any form;

Offering, delivering or accepting, by whatever means, a child for the purpose of sexual exploitation of the child, transfer of organs of the child for profit or engagement of the child in forced labour;

Offering, obtaining, procuring or providing a child for child prostitution;

Producing, distributing, disseminating, importing, exporting, offering, selling or possessing child pornography;

Slavery or practices similar to slavery, debt bondage and serfdom and forced labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict;

Committing gender-related violence against a child and, in particular, gender-related killing of girls.

Implementing comprehensive prevention programmes

General and context-specific measures should be developed by Member States to prevent violence against children. Prevention measures, building on a growing understanding of factors that give rise to violence against children and addressing the risks of violence to which children are exposed, should be part of a comprehensive strategy to eliminate violence against children. Criminal justice agencies, working together with, as appropriate, child protection, social welfare, health and education agencies and civil society organizations, should develop effective violence prevention programmes as part of both broader crime prevention programmes and initiatives to build a protective environment for children.

Preventing the victimization of children through all available means should be recognized as a crime prevention priority. Member States are therefore urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments:

To strengthen existing child protection systems and to help to create a protective environment for children;

To adopt measures to prevent violence within the family and the community, address cultural acceptance or tolerance of violence against children, including gender-related violence, and challenge harmful practices;

To encourage and support the development and implementation at every level of government of comprehensive plans for the prevention of violence against children in all of its forms, based on in-depth analysis of the problem and incorporating:

An inventory of existing policies and programmes;

Well-defined responsibilities for the relevant institutions, agencies and personnel involved in preventive measures;

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Mechanisms for the appropriate coordination of preventive measures between governmental and non-governmental agencies;

Evidence-based policies and programmes that are continually monitored and carefully evaluated in the course of implementation;

Parental capacity-building and family support as the primary preventive measures, while strengthening child protection in school and in the community;

Methods for effectively identifying, mitigating and reducing the risk of violence against children;

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Public awareness-raising and community involvement in prevention policies and programmes;

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Close interdisciplinary cooperation, with the involvement of all relevant agencies, civil society groups, local and religious leaders and, where relevant, other stakeholders;

Participation of children and families in policies and programmes for the prevention of criminal activities and victimization;

To identify the specific vulnerabilities and risks faced by children in different situations and to adopt proactive measures to reduce those risks;

To take appropriate actions to support and protect all children, in particular children in different situations of vulnerability and children in need of special protection;

To be guided by the Guidelines for the Prevention of Crime and play a leading role in developing effective crime prevention strategies and in creating and maintaining institutional frameworks for their implementation and review.

The risk of violence against children committed by children should be addressed by specific prevention measures, including measures:

To prevent physical, psychological and sexual violence exerted, often through bullying, by children against other children;

To prevent the violence sometimes exerted by groups of children, including violence by youth gangs;

To prevent the recruitment, use and victimization of children by youth gangs;

To identify and protect children, in particular girls, who are linked to gang members and who are vulnerable to sexual exploitation;

To encourage law enforcement agencies to use multi-agency intelligence to proactively profile local risk and, accordingly, to direct enforcement and disruption activity.

The risk of violence associated with trafficking in children and various forms of exploitation by criminal groups should be addressed by specific prevention measures, including measures:

To prevent the recruitment, use and victimization of children by criminal groups, terrorist entities or violent extremist groups;

To prevent the sale of children, trafficking in children, child prostitution and child pornography;

To prevent the production, possession and dissemination of images and all other materials that depict, glorify or incite violence against children, including when perpetrated by children, particularly through information technologies, such as the Internet, in particular social networking environments.

Broad public education and awareness campaigns are required. Member States, in cooperation with educational institutions, non-governmental organizations, relevant professional associations and the media, are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments:

To implement and support effective public awareness and public education initiatives that prevent violence against children by promoting respect for their rights and by educating their families and communities about the harmful impact of violence;

To raise awareness of how to prevent and respond to violence against children among persons who have regular contact with children in the justice, child protection, social welfare, health and education sectors and in areas relating to sport, culture and leisure activities;

To encourage and support inter-agency cooperation in implementing violence prevention activities and programmes, planning and delivering public information campaigns, training professionals and volunteers, gathering data on the incidence of violence against children, monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of programmes and strategies and exchanging information on good practices and lessons learned;

To encourage the private sector, in particular the information and communications technology sector, the tourism and travel industry and the banking and finance sectors, and civil society to participate in the development and implementation of policies to prevent the exploitation and abuse of children;

To encourage the media to contribute to community efforts to prevent and respond to violence against children and to promote changes in social norms that tolerate such violence, and to encourage the establishment of media-led ethical guidelines that will allow child-friendly coverage and reportage on cases involving child victims of abuse, exploitation, neglect and discrimination, taking into consideration the right of children to privacy;

To involve children, their families, communities, local leaders, religious leaders and criminal justice and other relevant professionals in discussing the impact and detrimental effects of violence against children and ways to prevent violence and eliminate harmful practices;

To challenge attitudes that condone or normalize violence against children, including the tolerance and acceptance of corporal punishment and harmful practices, and the acceptance of violence.

In order to address the vulnerability and the specific risks of violence faced by unaccompanied children, migrant children and children who are refugees or asylum seekers, Member States are urged, as appropriate and without prejudice to their obligations under international law:

To ensure that these children have access to independent assistance, advocacy and advice, that they are always placed in appropriate accommodation and treated in a manner that is fully compatible with their best interests, that they are separated from adults when necessary to protect them and, when applicable, to sever relationships with smugglers and traffickers, and that a legally appointed representative is available from the moment an unaccompanied child is detected by the authorities;

To conduct regular analyses of the nature of the threats faced by these children and to assess their needs for assistance and protection;

To uphold the principle of burden-sharing and solidarity with the host country and to enhance international cooperation.

Promoting research and data collection, analysis and dissemination

Member States, the institutes of the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme network, relevant entities of the United Nations system, other relevant international organizations, research institutes, non-governmental organizations and professional associations are urged, as appropriate:

To set up and strengthen mechanisms for the systematic and coordinated collection of data on violence against children, including on violence against children in contact with the justice system;

To monitor and publish periodic reports on cases of violence against children reported to the police and other criminal justice agencies, including the number of cases, apprehension or arrest and clearance rates, prosecution and case disposition with regard to the alleged offenders and the prevalence of violence against children and, in so doing, to make use of data derived from population-based surveys. The reports should disaggregate data by type of violence and include, for example, information on the age and sex of the alleged offender and his or her relationship to the victim;

To develop a multilevel system of reporting, starting from the most basic unit of government to the national level and to allow, in accordance with national legislation, the exchange of relevant information, statistics and data among all relevant institutions to help to ensure comprehensive data gathering for policy and programme development that will promote child protection;

To develop population-based surveys and child-sensitive methodologies aimed at collecting data regarding children, including crime and victimization surveys, to allow for assessment of the nature and extent of violence against children;

To develop and implement indicators relating to the performance of the justice system in preventing and responding to violence against children;

To develop and monitor indicators relating to the prevalence of violence against children in contact with the justice system;

To evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the justice system in meeting the needs of child victims of violence and preventing such violence, including with regard to the way in which the justice system treats child victims of violence, the use it makes of different intervention models and the degree to which it cooperates with other agencies responsible for the protection of children, and also to evaluate and assess the impact of current legislation, rules and procedures relating to violence against children;

To collect, analyse and disseminate data on independent inspections of places of detention, access to complaint mechanisms by children in detention and outcomes of complaints and investigations in accordance with the obligations of States under international human rights law;

To use research studies and data collection to inform policy and practice and to exchange and disseminate information concerning successful violence prevention practices;

To encourage and provide sufficient financial support for research on violence against children;

To ensure that data, periodic reports and research are aimed at supporting the efforts of Member States to address violence against children and are used in the framework of constructive cooperation and dialogue with and among Member States.

Part two

Enhancing the ability and capacity of the criminal justice system to respond to violence against children and protect child victims

Establishing effective detection and reporting mechanisms

In order to respond to the need to detect and report acts of violence against children, Member States are urged, as appropriate:

To ensure that measures are taken to identify risk factors for different types of violence and identify signs of actual violence in order to trigger appropriate intervention as early as possible;

To ensure that criminal justice professionals who routinely come into contact with children in the course of their work are aware of risk factors and indicators of various forms of violence, in particular at the national level, and that they have received guidance and are trained on how to interpret such indicators and have the knowledge, willingness and ability necessary to take appropriate action, including the provision of immediate protection;

To legally require professionals who routinely come into contact with children in the course of their work to notify appropriate authorities if they suspect that a child is, or is likely to become, a victim of violence;

To ensure that safe child- and gender-sensitive approaches, procedures and complaint, reporting and counselling mechanisms are established by law, are in conformity with the obligations of Member States under the relevant international human rights instruments, take into account relevant international standards and norms on crime prevention and criminal justice and are easily accessible to all children and their representative or a third party without fear of reprisal or discrimination;

To ensure that individuals, and in particular children, reporting in good faith alleged incidents of violence against children are protected against all forms of reprisal;

To work with Internet service providers, mobile telephone companies, search engines, public Internet facilities and others to facilitate and, where feasible, enact appropriate legislative measures to ensure the reporting of any representation, by whatever means, of a child engaged in real or simulated explicit sexual activities or any representation of the sexual parts of a child for primarily sexual purposes, defined as child pornography under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography to the police or other authorized bodies and the blocking of access to websites where such material is available or the deletion of illegal content, and to keep records, in accordance with the law, and preserve evidence for a period of time and as determined by law for the purpose of investigation and prosecution.

Offering effective protection to child victims of violence

In order to more effectively protect child victims of violence through the criminal justice process and avoid their secondary victimization, Member States are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments, to take appropriate measures:

To ensure that laws clearly define the roles and responsibilities of government departments and define standards for the actions of other institutions, services and facilities responsible for the detection of violence against children and the care and protection of children, in particular in cases of domestic violence;

To ensure that police and other law enforcement agencies have, with judicial authorization where required by national law, adequate powers to enter premises and conduct arrests in cases of violence against children and to take immediate measures to ensure the safety of the children;

To ensure that police, prosecutors, judges and all other relevant professionals who may be in contact with child victims respond promptly to incidents of violence against children and that relevant cases are managed expeditiously and efficiently;

To ensure that criminal justice and other relevant professionals, in dealing with cases of child victims of violence, pay particular attention to child- and gender-sensitive approaches, including through the use of modern technologies in different stages of criminal investigations and criminal proceedings;

To ensure that national standards, procedures and protocols are developed and implemented among relevant national actors in order to respond with sensitivity to child victims of violence whose physical or psychological integrity remains at serious risk and requires their urgent removal from the dangerous context, and that temporary protection and care are provided in an appropriate place of safety pending a full determination of the best interests of the child;

To ensure that the police, courts and other competent authorities have the legal authority to issue and enforce protection measures such as restraining or barring orders in cases of violence against children, including removal of the perpetrator from the domicile and prohibiting further contact with the victim and other affected parties inside and outside the domicile, as well as to impose penalties for breaches of those orders in accordance with national legislation, and to ensure that, when the child victim of violence remains under the care and protection of the non-abusive parent, the parent can safeguard the child and that such protective measures are not dependent on the initiation of criminal proceedings;

To ensure that a registration system is established for judicial protection and restraining or barring orders, where such orders are permitted by national law, so that police and other criminal justice officials can quickly determine whether such an order is in force;

To ensure that an informal or mediated settlement of cases involving violence against children takes place only when it is in the best interests of the child, and does not involve harmful practices, such as forced marriage, taking into account any power imbalance and the vulnerability of the child or his or her family in consenting to a settlement, with due regard for any future risk to the safety of the child or other children;

To ensure that child victims of violence and their families have access to appropriate mechanisms or procedures in order to obtain redress and reparation, including from the State, and that relevant information about those mechanisms is publicized and easily accessible.

Recognizing the fact that, for prosecutions to be effective, it is often necessary for child victims of violence to participate in the criminal justice process, that in some jurisdictions children can be required or compelled to testify and that these children are vulnerable and in need of special protection, assistance and support in order to prevent further hardship and trauma that may result from their participation in the criminal justice process, Member States are required in this regard to ensure that the child’s privacy is fully respected at all stages of the proceedings and are urged, as appropriate:

To ensure the availability for children of special services, physical and mental health care and protection that take into account gender and are appropriate to the age, level of maturity and needs of the child in order to prevent further hardship and trauma and promote the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of child victims of violence;

To ensure that children who have been subjected to sexual abuse, and especially girls who have become pregnant or children living with HIV/AIDS or other sexually transmitted diseases as a result of the abuse, receive age-appropriate medical advice and counselling and are provided with the requisite physical and mental health care and support;

To ensure that child victims receive assistance from support persons commencing at the initial report and continuing until such services are no longer required;

To ensure that professionals who are responsible for assisting child victims make every effort to coordinate support to avoid unnecessary procedures and limit the number of interviews.

Ensuring effective investigation and prosecution of incidents of violence against children

In order to effectively investigate and prosecute incidents of violence against children and bring the perpetrators to justice, Member States are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments:

To ensure that the primary responsibility for initiating investigations and prosecutions lies with the police, the prosecution and other competent authorities and does not require an official complaint to be filed by the child victim of violence or a parent or legal guardian of the child;

To adopt and implement policies and programmes aimed at guiding all decisions concerning the prosecution of offences of violence against children and ensuring the fairness, integrity and effectiveness of such decisions;

To ensure that the applicable laws, policies, procedures, programmes and practices related to violence against children are consistently and effectively implemented by the criminal justice system;

To ensure that child-sensitive investigation procedures are adopted and implemented so as to ensure that violence against children is correctly identified and to help provide evidence for administrative, civil and criminal proceedings, while according due assistance to children with special needs;

To develop and implement policies and appropriate responses regarding the investigation and collection of evidence, in particular bodily samples, that take into account the needs and views of child victims of violence in accordance with the age and maturity of child victims, respect their dignity and integrity and minimize intrusion into their lives, while abiding by national standards for the collection of evidence;

To ensure that the persons investigating alleged incidents of violence against children have the duty, powers and necessary authorization to obtain all the information necessary to the investigation, in accordance with criminal procedure as laid out in national law, and have at their disposal all the budgetary and technical resources necessary for effective investigation;

To ensure that great care is taken to avoid subjecting a child victim of violence to further harm through the process of the investigation, including by inviting and giving due weight to the child’s views in accordance with the age and maturity of the child and adopting child-sensitive and gender-sensitive investigation and prosecution practices;

To ensure that decisions on the apprehension or arrest, detention and terms of any form of release of an alleged perpetrator of violence against a child take into account the need for the safety of the child and others related to the child, and that such procedures also prevent further acts of violence.

Enhancing cooperation among various sectors

Acknowledging the complementary roles of the criminal justice system, child protection agencies, health, education and social service sectors and, in some cases, informal justice systems in creating a protective environment and preventing and responding to incidents of violence against children, Member States are urged, as appropriate:

To ensure effective coordination and cooperation among the criminal justice, child protection, social welfare, health and education sectors in detecting, reporting and responding to violence against children and protecting and assisting child victims;

To establish stronger operational links, particularly in emergency situations, between health and social service agencies, both public and private, and criminal justice agencies for the purposes of reporting, recording and responding appropriately to acts of violence against children, while protecting the privacy of child victims of violence;

To establish stronger links between informal justice systems and justice and child protection institutions;

To develop information systems and inter-agency protocols to facilitate the exchange of information and enable cooperation in identifying incidents of violence against children, responding to them, protecting child victims of violence and holding perpetrators accountable, in accordance with national laws on data protection;

To ensure that violent acts against children, when suspected by health and social services or child protection agencies, are promptly reported to the police and other law enforcement agencies;

To promote the establishment of specialized units specifically trained to deal with the complexities and sensitivities relating to child victims of violence, from which victims can receive comprehensive assistance, protection and intervention services, including health and social services, legal aid and police assistance and protection;

To ensure that adequate medical, psychological, social and legal services sensitive to the needs of child victims of violence are in place to enhance the criminal justice management of cases involving violence against children, to encourage the development of specialized health services, including comprehensive, free and confidential forensic examinations by trained health providers and appropriate treatment, including HIV-specific treatment, and to facilitate and support inter-agency referrals of child victims for services;

To provide support to children whose parents or caregivers are deprived of liberty in order to prevent and address the risk of violence such children may be exposed to as a result of the parents’ or caregiver’s actions or situation.

Improving criminal proceedings in matters involving child victims of violence

With respect to criminal proceedings in matters involving child victims of violence, Member States are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments:

To ensure that comprehensive services are provided and protection measures are taken to ensure the safety, privacy and dignity of victims and their families at all stages of the criminal justice process, without prejudice to the ability or willingness of the victim to participate in an investigation or prosecution, and to protect them from intimidation and retaliation;

To ensure that the child’s views are given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child, that the child is provided the opportunity to participate fully in any judicial and administrative proceedings, that every child is treated as a capable witness and that his or her testimony is not presumed to be invalid or untrustworthy by reason of the child’s age alone, as long as the court or other competent authority deems that his or her age and maturity allow the giving of intelligible and credible testimony, with or without communication aids and other assistance;

To ensure, in appropriate cases, that child victims of violence are not required to testify as part of the criminal justice process without the knowledge of their parents or legal guardians, that a child’s refusal to testify does not constitute a criminal or other offence and that child victims of violence are able to testify in criminal proceedings through adequate measures and child-friendly practices that facilitate such testimony by protecting their privacy, identity and dignity, ensuring their safety before, during and after legal proceedings, avoiding secondary victimization and respecting their need and legal right to be heard while recognizing the legal rights of the accused;

To ensure that child victims of violence, their parents or legal guardians and legal representatives, from the first contact with the justice system and throughout the judicial proceedings, are promptly and adequately informed of, inter alia, the rights of the child, the relevant procedures, available legal aid and the progress and disposition of the specific case;

To ensure that the child victim’s parents or legal guardian and, where appropriate, a child protection professional accompany the child during interviews conducted as part of the investigation and during trial proceedings, inter alia, while testifying as a witness, except in the following circumstances, as dictated by the best interests of the child:

The parent(s) or the legal guardian are the alleged perpetrator(s) of the offence committed against the child;

The court deems that it is not in the best interests of the child to be accompanied by his or her parent(s) or legal guardian, including on the basis of credible concern expressed by the child;

To ensure that proceedings relevant to the testimony of the child are explained to the child and conducted in language that is simple and comprehensible to the child and that interpretation into language that the child understands is made available;

To protect the privacy of child victims of violence as a matter of primary importance, to protect them from undue exposure to the public, for example by excluding the public and the media from the courtroom during the child’s testimony, and to protect information relating to a child’s involvement in the justice process by maintaining confidentiality and restricting disclosure of information that may lead to identification of the child;

To ensure, within the framework of national legal systems, that criminal proceedings involving child victims take place as soon as possible, unless delays are in the child’s best interest;

To provide for the use of child-sensitive procedures, including interview rooms designed for children, interdisciplinary services for child victims integrated within the same location, modified court environments that take child witnesses into consideration, recesses during a child’s testimony, hearings scheduled at times of day appropriate to the age and maturity of the child, an appropriate notification system to ensure that the child goes to court only when necessary and other appropriate measures to facilitate the child’s testimony;

To ensure that, when child victims of violence may be the subject of intimidation, threats or harm, appropriate conditions are put in place to ensure their safety and that protective measures are taken, such as:

Preventing direct contact between a child victim and the accused at any point during the criminal justice process;

Requesting restraining orders from a competent court, supported by a registry system;

iii

Requesting a pretrial detention order for the accused from a competent court, with “no contact” bail conditions;

Requesting an order from a competent court to place the accused under house arrest if necessary;

Requesting protection for a child victim by the police or other relevant agencies and safeguarding the whereabouts of the child from disclosure.

Recognizing the serious nature of violence against children and taking into account the severity of the physical and psychological harm caused to child victims, Member States are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments, to ensure, when informal justice systems are resorted to, that violence against children is appropriately denounced and deterred, that perpetrators of violence against children are held accountable for their actions and that redress, support and compensation for child victims is provided.

Recognizing that measures to protect and assist child victims of violence must continue after the person accused of that violence has been convicted and sentenced, Member States are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments:

To ensure the right of a child victim of violence, or his or her parents or legal guardian, to be notified of the offender’s release from detention or imprisonment if they so wish;

To develop, implement and evaluate treatment and reintegration and rehabilitation programmes for those convicted of violence against children that prioritize the safety of victims and the prevention of recidivism;

To ensure that judicial and correctional authorities, as appropriate, monitor compliance by perpetrators with any treatment or other court order;

To ensure that the risk to a child victim of violence and the best interests of that child are considered at the time of making decisions concerning the release of the offender from detention or imprisonment or the re-entry of the offender into society.

Ensuring that sentencing reflects the serious nature of violence against children

Recognizing the serious nature of violence against children, while taking into account the fact that the perpetrators of that violence may also be children, Member States are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments:

To ensure that offences involving violence against children are, by law, punishable by appropriate penalties that take into account their grave nature;

To ensure that national law takes into account specific factors which may aggravate a crime, including the age of the victim, the fact that the victim is severely handicapped mentally or intellectually, repeated violent acts, abuse of a position of trust or authority and perpetration of violence against a child in a close relationship with the offender;

To ensure that people who commit acts of violence against children while under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other substances are not exempt from criminal responsibility;

To ensure that individuals can be prohibited or restrained by a court order or other means, within the framework of the national legal system, from harassing, intimidating or threatening children;

To ensure that safety risks, including the vulnerability of victims, are taken into account in decisions concerning non-custodial sentences, bail, conditional release, parole or probation, especially when dealing with repeat and dangerous offenders;

To make available to the courts, through legislation, a full range of sentencing dispositions to protect the victim, other affected persons and society from further violence, and to rehabilitate the perpetrator, as appropriate;

To review and update national law to ensure that the decisions made by the courts in cases involving violent offences against children:

Denounce and deter violence against children;

Hold offenders accountable, with due regard to their age and maturity, for their acts involving violence against children;

iii

Promote victim and community safety, including by separating the offender from the victim and, if necessary, from society;

Allow for the severity of the physical and psychological harm caused to the victim to be taken into consideration;

Take into account the impact on victims and, if affected, their family members, of sentences imposed on perpetrators;

Provide reparations for harm caused as a result of the violence;

vii

Promote the rehabilitation of the perpetrator, including by promoting a sense of responsibility in offenders and, where appropriate, rehabilitating and reintegrating perpetrators into the community.

Strengthening capacity and training of criminal justice professionals

Recognizing the responsibility of criminal justice professionals to prevent and respond to violence against children and to protect child victims of violence, as well as the need to facilitate and support this role, Member States are urged, as appropriate:

To take measures and allocate adequate resources to develop the capacity of professionals within the criminal justice system to actively prevent violence against children and to protect and assist child victims of violence;

To enable close cooperation, coordination and collaboration between criminal justice officials and other relevant professionals, especially those from the child protection, social welfare, health and education sectors;

To design and implement training programmes for criminal justice professionals on the rights of the child, in particular on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and international human rights law, and to provide information on appropriate ways to deal with all children, in particular those who might be subject to discrimination, and to educate criminal justice professionals about the stages of child development, the process of cognitive development, the dynamics and nature of violence against children, the difference between regular peer groups and gangs, and the appropriate management of children who are under the influence of alcohol or drugs;

To design and deliver guidance, information and training to informal justice system actors in order to ensure that their practices, legal interpretations and decisions comply with international human rights law and effectively protect children against all forms of violence;

To design and implement mandatory, cross-cultural gender- and child-sensitivity training modules for criminal justice professionals on the unacceptability of all forms of violence against children and on the harmful impact on and consequences for all those who experience such violence;

To ensure that criminal justice professionals receive adequate training and continuing education on all relevant national laws, policies and programmes, as well as relevant international legal instruments;

To promote the development and use of specialized expertise among criminal justice professionals, including through the establishment, where possible, of specialized units or personnel and specialized courts or dedicated court time, and to ensure that all police officers, prosecutors, judges and other criminal justice professionals receive regular and institutionalized training to sensitize them to gender- and child-related issues and to build their capacity with regard to responding to violence against children;

To ensure that criminal justice officials and other relevant authorities are adequately trained in their respective areas of competence:

To identify and respond appropriately to the specific needs of child victims of violence;

To receive and treat all child victims of violence respectfully, with a view to preventing secondary victimization;

iii

To handle complaints confidentially;

To conduct effective investigations of alleged incidents of violence against children;

To interact with child victims in an age-appropriate and child- and gender-sensitive manner;

To conduct safety assessments and implement risk management measures;

vii

To enforce protection orders;

To support the development of codes of conduct for criminal justice professionals that prohibit violence against children, including safe complaint and referral procedures, and to encourage relevant professional associations to develop enforceable standards of practice and behaviour.

Part three

Preventing and responding to violence against children within the justice system

Reducing the number of children in contact with the justice system

Recognizing the importance of avoiding the unnecessary criminalization and penalization of children, Member States are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments, to ensure that any conduct not considered a criminal offence or not penalized if committed by an adult is also not considered a criminal offence and not penalized if committed by a child, in order to prevent the child’s stigmatization, victimization and criminalization.

In this regard, Member States are encouraged not to set the minimum age of criminal responsibility at too low an age level, bearing in mind the emotional, mental and intellectual maturity of children, and in this respect reference is made to the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to increase the lower minimum age of criminal responsibility without exception to the age of 12 years as the absolute minimum age, and to continue to increase it to a higher age level.

Recognizing that an important and highly effective way of reducing the number of children in the justice system is through diversion measures, restorative justice programmes and the use of non-coercive treatment and education programmes as alternative measures to judicial proceedings, as well as the provision of support for families, Member States are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments:

To consider diversion to community-based programmes and to provide police and other law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges with options for diverting children away from the justice system, including warning and community work, to be applied in combination with restorative justice processes;

To foster close cooperation among the justice, child protection, social welfare, health and education sectors, so as to promote the use and enhanced application of alternative measures to judicial proceedings and to detention;

To consider designing and implementing restorative justice programmes for children as alternative measures to judicial proceedings;

To consider the use of non-coercive treatment, education and assistance programmes as alternative measures to judicial proceedings and the development of alternative non-custodial interventions and effective social reintegration programmes.

Preventing violence associated with law enforcement and prosecution activities

Mindful of the fact that police and other security forces can sometimes be responsible for acts of violence against children, Member States are urged, while taking into consideration relevant international legal instruments, to prevent abuse of power, arbitrary detention, corruption and extortion by police officers who target children and their families.

Member States are urged to effectively prohibit the use of all forms of violence, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment to obtain information, extract confessions, coerce a child into acting as an informant or agent for the police, or engage a child in activities against his or her will.

Mindful of the fact that arrests and investigations are situations in which violence against children can occur, Member States are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments:

To ensure that all arrests are conducted in conformity with the law, to limit the apprehension, arrest and detention of children to situations in which these measures are necessary as a last resort, and to promote and implement, where possible, alternatives to arrest and detention, including summonses and notices to appear, in cases involving children as alleged perpetrators;

To implement the principle that the apprehension or arrest of children should be conducted in a child-sensitive manner;

To prohibit the use of firearms, electric shock weapons and violent methods to apprehend and arrest children, and to adopt measures and procedures that carefully limit and guide the use of force and instruments of restraint by the police while apprehending or arresting children;

To require, ensure and monitor police compliance with the obligation to notify parents, legal guardians or caregivers immediately following the apprehension or arrest of a child;

To ensure that, when considering whether a parent, legal guardian, legal representative or responsible adult or, when necessary, a child protection professional is to be present at, or to observe a child during, the interview or interrogation process, the best interests of the child as well as other relevant factors are taken into consideration;

To ensure that children are informed of their rights and have prompt access to legal aid during police interrogation and while in police detention, and that they may consult their legal representative freely and fully confidentially;

To review, evaluate and, where necessary, update national laws, policies, codes, procedures, programmes and practices to implement policies and strict procedures for searching children while respecting their privacy and dignity, for taking intimate and non-intimate samples from child suspects and for assessing the age and gender of a child;

To implement measures to specifically prevent violence related to unlawful practices by the police, including arbitrary arrests and detention and extrajudicial punishment of children for unlawful or unwanted behaviours;

To establish accessible, child-appropriate and safe procedures for children to complain about incidents of violence during their arrest or interrogation or while in police custody;

To ensure that alleged incidents of violence against children during their contact with the police are independently, promptly and effectively investigated and that those alleged to have been implicated in violence against children are removed from any position of control or power, whether direct or indirect, over complainants, witnesses and their families, as well as those conducting the investigation;

To take measures to address the risk of violence and protect children during their transport to a court, hospital or other facility, including the risk of violence while being held in court holding cells together with adults;

To ensure that, when a parent, legal guardian or caregiver is arrested, the child’s best interests, care and other needs are taken into account.

Ensuring that deprivation of liberty is used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time

Recognizing that limiting the use of detention as a sentence and encouraging the use of alternatives to detention can help to reduce the risk of violence against children within the justice system, Member States are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments:

Not to deprive children of their liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily and, in cases of deprivation of liberty, to ensure that it is in conformity with the law and used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time;

To ensure that children have continued access to government-funded legal aid during all stages of the justice process;

To ensure that children can exercise their right to appeal a sentence and obtain the legal aid necessary to do so;

To provide for the possibility of early release and make available aftercare and social reintegration programmes and services;

To facilitate professional specialization, or at least specialized training, for criminal justice professionals dealing with children alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed criminal law.

Prohibiting torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

Recognizing that no child should be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Member States are urged:

To review, evaluate and, where necessary, update their national laws to effectively prohibit sentences involving any form of corporal punishment for crimes committed by children;

To review, evaluate and, where necessary, update their national laws to ensure that, under legislation and practice, neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without the possibility of release is imposed for offences committed by persons when they were under 18 years of age.

Preventing and responding to violence against children in places of detention

Recognizing that the majority of children deprived of their liberty are in police custody or pretrial or preventive detention and that those children might be at risk of violence, Member States are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments:

To ensure that children in police custody or pretrial or preventive detention can promptly appear before a court or tribunal to challenge that detention and that they have an opportunity to be heard either directly or through a representative or an appropriate body in a manner consistent with the procedural rules of national law, in order to obtain a prompt decision on any such action;

To reduce delays in the justice process, to expedite trials and other proceedings involving children alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed criminal law, and to avoid the resulting prolonged or arbitrary detention of children while they await trial or the conclusion of a police investigation;

To ensure the effective oversight and independent monitoring of all cases of police custody or pretrial or preventive detention of children;

To endeavour to reduce pretrial detention by, inter alia, adopting legislative and administrative measures and policies on its preconditions, limitations, duration and alternatives and by taking measures aimed at the implementation of existing legislation, as well as by ensuring access to justice and legal aid.

Recognizing that, when children must be detained, the conditions of detention themselves can be conducive to various forms of violence against children, Member States are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments:

To ensure that all detention facilities have adopted and implemented child-sensitive policies, procedures and practices, and to monitor compliance with them;

To establish a maximum capacity for all places of detention and take concrete and sustained measures to address and reduce overcrowding in such institutions;

To ensure that, in all places of detention, children are separated from adults and girls are separated from boys;

To promote good practices in order to strengthen the protection and safety of children living in custody with an incarcerated parent, including consultation with the parents to determine their views regarding their child’s care during the period of custody and the provision of special mother-and-child units or, where parents are detained for violation of immigration laws, separate family units in order to identify their special needs and accordingly provide appropriate protection;

To facilitate the assessment and classification of children held in detention facilities in order to identify their special needs and accordingly provide appropriate protection and individualize treatment and interventions, including with respect to the specific needs of girls, and to ensure that there is a sufficient array of facilities to accommodate and adequately protect children of different ages or with differing needs;

To ensure that treatment and support is offered to detained children with special needs, including to girls who are pregnant, give birth and/or raise children in detention, and that treatment for mental illness, disabilities, HIV/AIDS and other communicable and non-communicable diseases and drug addiction is offered, and to address the needs of children at risk of committing suicide or other forms of self-harm;

To ensure that appropriate care and protection is provided to children accompanying a parent or legal guardian deprived of liberty on any ground, including for a violation of immigration law;

To review, update and improve safety and security policies and practices within places of detention to reflect the obligation of the authorities to ensure the safety of children and protect them against all forms of violence, including violence among children;

To prevent all forms of discrimination against or ostracism or stigmatization of detained children;

To take strict measures to ensure that all alleged incidents of violence, including sexual abuse of children in a place of detention, are immediately reported and independently, promptly and effectively investigated by appropriate authorities and, when well founded, effectively prosecuted.

Recognizing also that it is imperative to minimize the risk of violence against children in detention, Member States are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments:

To ensure that children in detention and their parents and/or legal guardians are aware of their rights and can access the mechanisms in place to protect those rights, including access to legal aid;

To prohibit the use of placement in a dark cell or closed or solitary confinement or any other punishment that may compromise the physical or mental health of a child;

To adopt and implement strict policies guiding the use of force and physical restraints on children during their detention;

To adopt policies prohibiting the carrying and use of weapons by personnel in any facility where children are detained;

To prohibit and effectively prevent the use of corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure, to adopt clear and transparent disciplinary policies and procedures that encourage the use of positive and educational forms of discipline and to establish in law the duty of managers and personnel of detention facilities to record, review and monitor every instance in which disciplinary measures or punishment are used;

To prohibit any form of violence or threats of violence against children by staff of places of detention in order to force children to engage in activities against their will;

To ensure the effective supervision and protection of children, as necessary, from violence by other children and adults, including through measures to prevent bullying by adults and by other children, and from self-harm;

To prevent violence associated with youth gang activities and racist harassment and violence within places of detention;

To encourage and facilitate, wherever possible and in the best interests of the child, frequent family visits and regular contact and communication between children and their family members, as well as with the outside world, and to ensure that disciplinary sanctions for detained children do not include a prohibition of contact with family members;

To prevent violence against and abuse of children suffering from mental illness or drug addiction, including through treatment and other measures to protect them from self-harm.

Recognizing the importance of preventing violence against children through appropriate staff recruitment, selection, training and supervision, Member States are urged, as appropriate:

To ensure that all personnel working with children in places of detention are qualified, selected on the basis of professional capacity, integrity, ability and personal suitability, sufficiently remunerated, adequately trained and effectively supervised;

To ensure that any person who has been convicted of a criminal offence against a child is not eligible to work in an agency or organization providing services to children, and to require agencies and organizations providing services to children to prevent persons who have been convicted of a criminal offence against a child from coming into contact with children;

To train all personnel and make them aware of their responsibility to identify early signs of risks of violence and mitigate that risk, to report incidents of violence against children and to actively protect children against violence in an ethical and child- and gender-sensitive manner.

Taking into account the distinctive needs of girls and their vulnerability to gender-based violence, Member States are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments:

To eliminate the risk of all forms of harassment, violence and discrimination against girls;

To ensure that the special needs and vulnerabilities of girls are taken into account in decision-making processes;

To ensure that the dignity of girls is respected and protected during personal searches, which shall only be carried out by female staff who have been properly trained in appropriate searching methods and in accordance with established procedures;

To implement alternative screening methods, such as scans, to replace strip searches and invasive body searches in order to avoid the harmful psychological and possible physical impact of such searches;

To adopt and implement clear policies and regulations on the conduct of staff aimed at providing maximum protection for girls deprived of their liberty from any physical or verbal violence, abuse or sexual harassment.

Recognizing the crucial importance of independent monitoring and inspection mechanisms, Member States are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments:

To ensure effective monitoring of, regular access to and inspection of places of detention and community-based institutions by national independent bodies and national human rights institutions, ombudspersons or members of the judiciary, who are empowered to conduct unannounced visits, conduct interviews with children and staff in private and investigate allegations of violence;

To ensure that they cooperate with relevant international and regional monitoring mechanisms that are legally entitled to visit institutions in which children are deprived of their liberty;

To promote international cooperation with regard to best practices and lessons learned related to national monitoring and inspection mechanisms;

To ensure that all deaths of children in detention facilities are reported and promptly and independently investigated, and to promptly endeavour, as appropriate, to investigate injuries suffered by children and ensure that their parents, legal guardian or closest relatives are informed.

Detecting, assisting and protecting children who are victims of violence as a result of their involvement with the justice system as alleged or sentenced offenders

Given the crucial importance of providing children who report abuse and incidents of violence within the justice system with immediate protection, support and counselling, Member States are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international human rights instruments:

To establish complaint mechanisms for child victims of violence within the justice system that are safe, confidential, effective and easily accessible;

To ensure that children receive clear information, in particular when they first arrive in a place of detention, both verbally and in writing, about their rights, relevant procedures, how they can exercise their right to be heard and listened to, effective remedies to address incidents of violence and available services for assistance and support, as well as information on seeking compensation for damages, that such information is age- and culturally appropriate and child- and gender-sensitive, and that parents and legal guardians are equally provided with relevant information on these measures;

To protect children who report abuse, specifically taking into account the risks of retaliation, including by removing those allegedly implicated in violence against or ill-treatment of children from any position of control or power, whether direct or indirect, over complainants, witnesses and their families, and those conducting the investigation;

To take effective measures to protect children who provide information or act as witnesses in proceedings related to a case involving violence within the justice system;

To provide access to fair, prompt and equitable redress mechanisms and accessible procedures for seeking and obtaining compensation for child victims of violence in the justice system, and to endeavour to adequately fund victim compensation schemes.

Recognizing the importance of detecting and responding to all incidents of violence against children as a result of their involvement with the justice system as alleged or sentenced offenders, Member States are urged, as appropriate:

To ensure that laws establishing obligations to report violence against children in the justice system respect children’s rights and are incorporated into the relevant regulations of agencies and rules of conduct, and that all those working with children have clear guidance on reporting requirements and consequences;

To implement protection measures for staff who report in good faith alleged incidents of violence against children, and to adopt rules and procedures that protect the identity of professionals and private individuals who bring cases of violence against children to the attention of the competent authorities;

To ensure the prompt, independent and effective investigation of all alleged incidents of violence against children involved with the justice system, as alleged or sentenced offenders, by competent and independent authorities, including medical personnel, with full respect for the principle of confidentiality.

Strengthening accountability and oversight mechanisms

Member States are urged to take all appropriate measures to combat impunity and the tolerance of violence against children within the justice system, including through awareness-raising programmes, education and effective prosecution of violent offences committed against children within the justice system.

Member States are encouraged to ensure that there is a clear and sustained commitment and obligation at all levels of justice institutions to prevent and address violence against children, including in a child- and gender-sensitive manner.

Member States are urged, as appropriate and while taking into consideration relevant international legal instruments:

To promote accountability for incidents of violence against children in the justice system, including by adopting and implementing effective measures to enhance integrity and prevent corruption;

To establish internal and external accountability mechanisms in policing and in places of detention;

To establish all key elements of an effective accountability system, including independent national oversight, monitoring and complaint mechanisms for agencies dealing with children;

To ensure the independent, prompt and effective investigation and prosecution of offences involving violence against children within the justice system;

To ensure that all public officials who are found to be responsible for violence against children are held accountable through workplace disciplinary measures, termination of employment and criminal justice investigations, where appropriate;

To promote transparency and public accountability regarding all measures taken to hold accountable perpetrators of violence and those who are responsible for preventing such violence;

To undertake criminal or other public investigations into all serious reports of violence against children at any stage of the justice process, and to ensure that such investigations are carried out by persons of integrity, are adequately funded and are completed without undue delay.

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