Protecting Children from Violence and Maltreatment: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis Assessing the Implementation of U.N. CRC Article 19

• NCJ Number: 229953
• Journal: Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 34 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2010 Pages: 45-56
• Author(s): Kimberly A. Svevo-Cianci; Stuart N. Hart; Claude Rubinson
• Date Published: January 2010
• Length: 12 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study identified those provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) that have been most important in establishing a basic level of child protection in 42 countries; and it determined whether these provisions are necessary or sufficient to achieve basic child protection in developing and industrialized countries.

Abstract

The study findings show that child protection is comparatively more successful in those countries with the following two types of social programs: a child protection infrastructure (legislation plus services) and at least one information-based intervention support program. Fourteen countries (33 percent) were found to have established at least a basic system for protecting children from violence and other forms of maltreatment. The findings reinforce the need for governments to take a systems approach to child protection, including the enactment of policies/legislation, information-based programs and social services, as well as professional training and efforts at increasing public awareness of the importance of child protection initiatives. The countries rated as most advanced in developing such a system were Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom. This study enlisted child protection and/or child rights experts from 42 countries to complete a questionnaire on CRC Article 19, which requires the implementation of child protection measures. The respondents rated their country's effectiveness in implementing child protection measures, the current level of child-protection effectiveness, and the relevance of improvements in child protection since the CRC was adopted in 1989. Questionnaire information was checked and supplemented with information on child health and protection measures from the Committee on the Rights of the Child Concluding Observations, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF. Qualitative comparative analysis was used to determine the effectiveness of the implementation of child protection measures. 1 figure, 2 tables, and 37 references