Violence against children: FRA’s research

Astrid Podsiadlowski

ENOC Conference

September 2015

Outline

• Brief overview of FRA and related activities

• Focused projects: – violence against children with disabilities and– treatment of children in judicial proceedings

to provide assistance and expertise on fundamental rights issues to the European Union institutions and the Member States, when they implement EU law PROVIDING EVIDENCE-BASED ADVICE

Information & data collection: research & comparative analysis INFORMATION ABOUT FRA WORK

to promote dialogue with civil society, in order to raise public awareness of fundamental rights and actively disseminate information about its work AWARENESS RAISING

Ref. Council Regulation (EC) 168/2007 of 15 /02/2007

FRA’S role and tasks

Violence against women: 33% of women have experienced physical or sexual violence by an adult before

they were 15 years old Some 12% of women have experienced some form of sexual violence by an adult

before they were 15 years old. Perpetrators of physical violence were family members: father (55%), the mother

(46%)

LGBT: 32% of the respondents across the EU aged 18-24 has experienced physical/sexual

attacks in the last 5 years 54% of them think that the most serious incident happened being L, G, B and/or T. 7% of them indicated a family member as perpetrator of the most serious incident. When under 18 years old, 78% of the respondents experienced negative comments

and/or conducts about them being G, L, B and/or T.

Some survey data on violence against children

In school: "You were told all the time that you were worthless, you’re bad, stupid and all that. So I never had any friends at all.“(Interview respondent)

Research on Violence against children with disabilities

Violence against children with disabilities: overview

• What? Violence against children with disabilities – legal and policy framework – Extent, triggers, forms and contexts – challenges and promising practices

• Why? Previous evidence. Under-researched area falling between the gaps

• How? – Desk research on laws and policies in 28 EU Member States– 132 interviews with stakeholders in 13 EU Member States (AT, BG, CZ, DK,

HR, IT, LT, NL, PL, PT, SE, SI and UK)

In school: "You were told all the time that you were worthless, you’re bad, stupid and all that. So I never had any friends at all.“(Interview respondent)

National legal and policy frameworks

• Law: – Right of the child to be free from violence– Disability and age as aggravating circumstances– Obligation to report

• Policies: weak coverage and few practical tools– National policies on child rights or disability– Violence in particular settings– Weak monitoring

• Implementation a challenge

Various approaches to legal and

policy coverage

“We have almost stopped saying that we want more legislation. We actually just want the existing legislation to be respected”(Interview respondent)

Extent of violence against children with disabilities

• More vulnerable to violence than children without disabilities

• Children with ‘invisible disabilities’ at higher risk

• Children with multiple and severe impairments, and children who communicate in a non-traditional way are particularly vulnerable

“The degree of disability is a deciding factor, who suffers from a serious or a severe disability, s/he will never report any abuse” (Interview respondent)

Respondents views on

Triggers of violence

Prejudice and fear of

‘otherness’

Lack of knowledge

about disability

Increased dependency ‘Easy targets’

Over-burdening of

parents

Overextended and untrained

care personnel

Intersection with other characteristics

• Poverty and socio-economic background– Lack of financial support– Link to poverty

• Ethnicity – Roma children especially vulnerable– Taboo and shame associated with disability

• Gender– Girls at risk of sexual violence

“Unfortunately there is more and more evidence that children are being bullied because of poverty. Poverty compounds these issues for children with disability.” (Interview respondent)

Promising practices

• Ireland- Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children

• Finland-‘Don’t hit the child’ – action plan on combating corporal punishment

• Croatia- “Step by step”- empowering children with intellectual disabilities

Key recommendations: 10 points1. Establishing inclusive child protection systems2. Enhancing the legal and political framework for protection of children

with disabilities3. Ensuring coordination and appointing a focal point on children with

disabilities4. Addressing societal attitudes and countering isolation 5. Promoting child-focused prevention measures and child participation 6. Providing family-focused services7. Ensuring inclusive education and participation in all aspects of life on

equal basis with others8. Advancing de-institutionalisation efforts and strengthening the

monitoring of institutions 9. Developing tools, allocating adequate resources and improving

human resource capacity10. Collecting data

I had an opportunity to talk, I have been heard, my wishes have been taken into account, although not as seriously as they could have been. (14 year old girl in multiple proceedings)

Research on Children and Justice

Judicial proceedings How are children involved and treated

• The protection of the rights of children is an EU objective. The Treaty of Lisbon emphasises the promotion of child rights.

EU Agenda for the Rights of the Child identified lack of official data

In 9 EU MSs, where data is available, around 74,000 children were victims of crime in 2010.

EC (EU) – legal and policy provisions, statistical information

FRA (10 MSs) – evidence on how legal and policy provisions are applied ‘on the ground’ to address children’s needs, when they are involved as witnesses, victims and parties to criminal and civil proceedings

How do judicial procedures respond to children’s needs?

FRA research on child-friendly justice

BG DE EE ES FI FR HR PL RO UK

Assessing

• How are children’s needs and rights addressed in judicial proceedings• How are the CoE’s Guidelines on child-friendly justice applied

Through• Personal interviews, focus groups and consultations with

• 570 professionals• 360 children

EU Member States covered

General findings

• There is great variation of actual practices not only across Member States but also within.

• This often depends on the judgement of the individual professional.

• Concrete measures on a child’s right to be informed, to be heard and to be protected are not standard practice.

• A lot more needs to be done to make justice more child-friendly so that children feel safe and comfortable to be able to express their views freely and participate effectively.

Child’s right to information - challenges

Lack of clear and specific provisions and guidelines on

how to inform children what to tell them regarding the proceedings/ their

rights when and who should inform them

In many cases practices are not appropriate• Information is often minimal and not understandable• Responsibility often unclear and/or left to parents• Information material rarely child-friendly and

adapted

In France Avoc’enfants helps children find a lawyer and get advice

In Bulgaria a simple drawing helps children understand courts

Child’s right to information – what could be done

Clear guidelines on how children should be informed

Clear responsibility: who provides this information Social - psychological support and guidance

Well informed children are more likely to provide good evidence that is taken into account by police and courts

Professionals suggest one contact point/support person who is responsible for informing children (and their parents) throughout the proceedings

Coordinated provision of information

Child’s right to be heard - challenges

“… usually the child is already overcoming the situation and trauma, time has passed, and then the case gets finally to court and it all starts over again…” Victim Support officer in Estonia

Length of proceedings and number of hearings

Inappropriate ways of questioning children

Hearing environments not child-friendly

In Poland, ‘blue rooms’ create safe spaces to host hearings

In Estonia, dolls are used to facilitate child hearings

Child’s right to be heard – what could be done

Clear guidelines on how children should be interviewed

Technical provisions as safeguards Examples: Child-friendly interview rooms & material Video and/or video-links to avoid facing people that can re-

traumatise Familiarisation with court and judge before starting formal

proceedings Simplify judges appearance, e.g. avoid formal wigs and/or gowns Co-operation between professionals to avoid repetitions and

confusion

When children feel safe they can contribute better to the process

Protection measures in criminal proceedings

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For more information or publications

www.fra.europa.eu or contact us

childrights@fra.europa.eu