Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected children’s risk of violence in their homes, communities and online, and has compromised the ability of child protection systems to promptly detect and respond to cases of violence. However, the need to strengthen violence prevention and response services has received insufficient attention in national and global pandemic response and mitigation strategies. In this paper, we summarize the growing body of evidence on the links between the pandemic and violence against children. Drawing on the World Health Organization’s INSPIRE framework to end violence against children, we illustrate how the pandemic is affecting prevention and response efforts. For each of the seven INSPIRE strategies we identify how responses to the pandemic have changed children’s risk of violence. We offer ideas for how governments, policy-makers, and international and civil society organizations can address violence in the context of a protracted COVID-19 crisis. We conclude by highlighting how the current pandemic offers opportunities to improve existing child protection systems to address violence against children. We suggest enhanced multisectoral coordination across the health, education, law enforcement, housing, child and social protection sectors. Actions need to prioritize the primary prevention of violence and promote the central role of children and adolescents in decision-making and programme design processes. Finally, we stress the continued need for better data and evidence to inform violence prevention and response strategies that can be effective during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
Highlights
Throughout the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, children have often been referred to as silent spreaders, low-risk or invisible carriers of the disease
Increases in violence against children and women can be linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated response measures which have limited people’s access to health services and exacerbated economic insecurity.[5,6]
The pandemic has drawn global attention to violence against women and children, prevention and response efforts continue to be underfunded and have received insufficient attention in COVID-19 strategies developed by governments and global organizations
Summary
Throughout the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, children have often been referred to as silent spreaders, low-risk or invisible carriers of the disease. Teachers and learners may be perpetrators of violence[3] and are likely to be experiencing increased stress and anxiety, as well as potentially precarious conditions in school These are all factors known to affect peer violence and the use of violent forms of discipline by teachers.[3] Efforts to strengthen school-based child protection systems should include providing support and safeguarding training for teachers to identify and refer cases of violence, and offering psychosocial support to children.[13,44] These efforts should be accompanied by long-term violence prevention and skills-building interventions aimed at creating genderequitable, safe and healthy schools.[45] Given that nearly 23.8 million additional children are estimated to be at risk of dropout from school, 44 the effects of absenteeism on violence against children need to be mitigated through backto-school campaigns, subsidies and cash transfers given to mothers or caregivers. Subrayamos la necesidad permanente de contar con mejores datos y pruebas para fundamentar las estrategias de prevención y respuesta a la violencia que puedan ser eficaces durante la pandemia de COVID-19 y seguir vigentes cuando ésta pase
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