Publications

Children have the right to live free from violence. Ending violence is a commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Yet more than half the world’s children are exposed to some form of violence every year. The impact of this violence is devastating and long-lasting.

Child domestic workers represent probably the largest and most ignored group of child workers.

The root causes of child domestic labor are multiple and multi-faceted. Poverty and its feminization, the persistence of traditional hierarchies, debt bondages, social exclusion, lack of education, gender and ethnic discrimination, domestic violence, displacement, rural-urban migration and loss of parents due to conflicts and diseases are just some of the multiple “push factors” for child domestic workers worldwide.

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.

This brief explores how investment in a holistic approach to the SDGs can contribute to the prevention of – and response to – violence against children, illustrated with examples from the 2023 VNRs.These examples are not exhaustive, but they highlight promising practices with the aim of encouraging Member States to enhance overall investment in children and their well-being. The brief also shares other examples that have impressed the SRSG-VAC during her engagements with various stakeholders.