| [Picture]Promote legislation and law enforcement, advocate positive education; joint efforts are needed to combat violence against children |
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| http://www.stopdv.org.cn 2010-6-17 14:14:00 |
A bimonthly forum, with the theme “legislation and practice in combating violence against children” was held in Beijing on January 28, 2010, by the Anti-Domestic Violence Network affiliated to the China Law Society. Ms. Zhang Xuemei，lawyer and deputy director of Beijing Children's Legal Aid and Research Center and Ms. Nan Fang, Policy and Research Manager of Save the Children UK China Programme, gave two lectures. There were more than 20 forum participants, including Ms. Zhang Huijun from Care for Children, representative members from the Anti-Domestic Violence Network and experts on anti-domestic violence from Peking University Health Science Center (PUHSC).
 In her lecture, Ms. Zhang Xuemei briefed the participants on the general situation of child abuse in China and the national legal framework and policies for combating violence against children, as well as the challenges in legislation, law enforcement, and judiciary justice. She also made some suggestions on how to perfect the legal systems in China.
Ms. Nan Fang, from an international perspective, introduced two global guidance documents about combating violence against children, namely, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)’s General Comment 8 (2000), and the UN Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Children. After that, by focusing on “ending corporal punishment and advocate for positive education to children,” Nan shared with the audience the experience, both theoretical and practical, obtained by Save the Children in promoting elimination of corporal punishment to children and safeguarding their healthy growth.
 In the Q&A session, by addressing the fact that 70 percent of child abuse cases take place in family, PUHSC expert Mr. Hong Wei, pointed out the role of family dynamics theory in curbing violence against children. “A great number of family tragedies are caused by individual violence, which is resulted from mental pressure due to social disharmony. In view of this, we need to provide psychological dredging to individuals and guidance to families. In addition, social strategy is also an issue to be addressed,” said Hong. Huo Liqin, also from the PUHSC, added: “all the units concerned should work hand in hand. Non-profit organizations have the advantages of acute observation and quick response, while professional institutes such as PUHSC can mobilize other professional groups.” Ms. Lin Lixia, project coordinator from Peking University Women's Legal Aid Center shared her working practice. She also made an appeal to the audience: “saving children is a social engineering; it needs joint efforts.”
Beijing Children's Legal Aid and Research Center, a domestic legal aid institute, and Save the Children, an international non-governmental organization, jointly discussed the necessities and possibilities of utilizing multi-agency collaboration to promote legislation, law enforcement, and positive education in China to combat violence against children. |
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