Publications

Immigration Detention is never in the best interests of the child and constitutes a child rights violation. It is a form of violence that impacts a country’s capacity to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially targets 10.7 and 16. All children, regardless of their legal or migratory status or that of their families, have the right to be cared for and protected from violence, abuse and exploitation. This advocacy brief provides an overview of promising practices and lessons learned to end child immigration detention and sets out a range of policy actions needed to scale up efforts to end this form of violence.

The travel and tourism sectors are vital in supporting the livelihood and development of communities and countries worldwide. Promoting responsible, accessible, and sustainable tourism is also essential to achieving the 2030 Agenda. However, many child protection challenges emerge in the context of travel and tourism, whether due to offenders moving within or between States or as an unintended result of the activities and operations of the sector itself.

It is time to rethink how travel and tourism are conducted and create a sustainable industry. Discussions on sustainability in the sector have rightly incorporated environmental, economic, and social dimensions. However, freedom from violence against children is also fundamental for sustainability. It is impossible to achieve genuinely sustainable growth – including within travel and tourism – and realize the promise of the 2030 Agenda while this violence and its drivers persist.

The number of children on the move, including refugee and displaced children, is increasing.

This puts massive pressure on governments, communities and the humanitarian agencies that protect them. An estimated 89.3 million people had been forcibly displaced from their homes by the end of 2021, which increased to a staggering 100 million by mid-2022. In at least 17 countries, refugees or internally displaced people account for at least five per cent of the population. More children are being affected worldwide, and they now account for 41 per cent – or 42 million – of all those who have been forcibly displaced. The damage caused by multidimensional crises is on the rise. Crises caused by armed conflicts, political instability and climate change, and the effects of health and economic problems threaten children's rights, including their right to be protected from violence, abuse and neglect. 

It is estimated that one in three Internet users worldwide is under 18 years of age. While the digital environment offers new opportunities for the realization of children’s rights, it also poses risks of the violation or abuse of those rights.

The online risks to children can entail different forms of violence and harm.

The lack of comprehensive data on violence against children in that environment remains a challenge. Notwithstanding the gaps that persist, the data that already exist on children’s exposure to violence and harm online are alarming.

A recent review of evidence by WHO highlighted that according to meta-analyses of international studies regarding different forms of violence against children online: 15% of children reported cyberbullying victimization; 11.5% of survey participants had received unwanted online sexual solicitation; and 8% of adolescents had a self-made sexual image forwarded without consent.