The prevention and elimination of violence against children (VAC), as well as the protection of children that are at risk of or exposed to violence, have been recognized as a priority in national policies and are subject to considerable efforts invested by the government and state institutions, as well as stakeholders from the field of academic and applied research and civil society activists and organizations. This study — initiated by UNICEF and implemented by SeConS, with the mentorship of an expert team from the Zurich University of Teacher Education and the UNICEF Office of Research — Innocenti, is part of these efforts to advance policies and mechanisms aimed to prevent and suppress violence against children and protect children from violence.
The report is based on a study conducted according to a specific approach developed and applied on an international scale by the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre. This approach is known as the Research to Policy and Practice Process (R3P), distinguished by its emphasis on strong links between research and policy practice. The approach places determinants and factors of VAC at the central focus of research, enabling policies for preventing and protecting children from violence to more effectively address the roots of violence. This way, the approach provides ground for more competent public policies in this area and better-designed institutional responses, as it foregrounds knowledge on strengths and weaknesses, gaps and good practices that should be disseminated and scaled-up.
