The Importance of Child Protection

Every child should grow up in a safe and nurturing home. But the reality is that children face insidious forms of violence, exploitation and abuse in their homes, schools and online.

This is especially true for girls and women in countries where armed conflict, natural disasters or emergencies are happening. They are often forced to flee their homes and may be exposed to exploitation and abuse along the way.

When a child is abused, their rights to protection are violated and they can suffer long-term harm that affects their health, education and future prospects. This is why child protection systems are important.

Protecting a child requires a holistic approach that includes a wide range of interventions to prevent and respond to harm in the child’s home, school or community. This includes protection from physical, emotional and sexual abuse, neglect, exploitation and sexual violence, as well as helping parents to improve their own health, education and livelihoods.

The Child Protection Eco-System
Under international law, every country has a responsibility to establish a system to protect all children from harm. This can include, for example, ensuring children are safe while they play, learning or attending school and preventing street children from entering the labour market.

A system should also ensure that children have access to health care and other social services they need, including those for vulnerable groups such as children with disabilities or those from migrant backgrounds. A child protection system should be shaped by the laws, policy and protocols of the jurisdiction in which it operates, but must be sensitive to the needs and cultures of the families served.

It is important to remember that child protection is not only a legal obligation, but also a moral duty for governments and NGOs. The protection of children is essential to achieving the right to development as described in Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and other human rights, humanitarian and refugee treaties.

In many countries, child protection services are governed by national laws and policies that empower government agencies to intervene in families where there is evidence of abuse or risk of harm to a child. These services can be provided by the local authority, or they can be delegated to another agency within the national system.

The primary purpose of child protection is to protect children from physical, emotional or sexual abuse or exploitation. This can take the form of providing safety and support to a child or family, investigating a claim of abuse or removing a child from their home on temporary or permanent bases.

Typically, these are based on an assessment of the risk of harm to the child. This assessment involves interviews with the child, their parents and others who interact with the family, to assess the situation.

Once the situation has been assessed, the practitioner then identifies and links the child with services that can help him or her to stay safe. These services may include, but are not limited to, counselling, family therapy and parenting skills training.