Millennium Child Support Group

CHILD PROTECTION

CHILD PROTECTION


All children have the right to protection. They have the right to survive, to be safe, to belong, to be heard, to receive adequate care and to grow up in a protective environment.
A family is the first line of protection for children. Parents or other caregivers are responsible for building a protective and loving home environment. Schools and communities are responsible for building a safe and child-friendly environment outside the child's home. In the family, school and community, children should be fully protected so they can survive, grow, learn and develop to their fullest potential.
Millions of children are not fully protected. Many of them deal with violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation, exclusion and/or discrimination every day. Such violations limit their chances of surviving, growing, developing and pursuing their dreams.
Millennium Child Support Group (MCSG) seeks to prevent and respond to violence, exploitation and abuse of children everywhere
Child Abuse
Child Neglect
Child Trafficking
Child Exploitation
Child Labour
Child Marriage
Child Slavery
Child Prostitution
Child Sexual Exploitation
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
Violence against children
Child Online Sexual Exploitation
Millennium Child Support Group (MCSG) works with the Governments, communities, local authorities and non-governmental organizations, including faith-based and community-based organizations to ensure that children grow up in a family environment. We make sure that schools and communities protect all children and prevent child maltreatment.
MCSG protect girls and boys from violations such as abuse, sexual exploitation, trafficking and work in hazardous conditions, as well as harmful practices, including child marriage.
Child Participation
MCSG involves girls and boys in all our programs initiative to find solution for their problems. We empower them to speak up for children's rights and to take an active role in their own protection against abuse, violence, exploitation and discrimination.

MCSG works to protect children from all forms of violence and abuse. This includes physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect and harmful practices such as child marriage and genital mutilation/cutting of girls. Families, communities and authorities are responsible for ensuring this protection.
Millennium Child Support Group (MCSG) uses the term ‘child protection’ to refer to prevention and response to violence, exploitation and abuse of children in all contexts. This includes reaching children who are especially vulnerable to these threats, such as those living without family care, on the streets or in situations of conflict or natural disasters.
Millennium Child Support Group (MCSG) monitors and reports on a number of key child protection indicators including:
Birth registration: the official recording of a child’s birth.
Child labour: the types of work a child performs, whether paid or unpaid, and hours spent, along with the hazards children face at work.
Child marriage: marriage or cohabitation before the age of 18.
Female genital mutilation: the partial or total removal of external female genitalia for non-medical reasons.
Violence against children: including emotional and physical abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, sexual exploitation and abuse, and use of violent discipline.
Work in these areas of child protection is carried out through data collection, methodological work, data compilation, and data analysis and data dissemination.
Millennium Child Support Group (MCSG) also work promotes the advancement of research through the development of joint projects and collaboration with academic institutions and other agencies working at the international and national levels in the area of child protection.

Everyone should have a voice
Stop child abuse

FACT FOR LIFE

Every child should have the opportunity to grow up in a family. If a family is unable to care for the child, steps should be taken by the authorities to address the reasons and make every effort to keep the family together
Children grow best in a loving family environment in which their best interests are always taken into account.
If a child is living without a parent or other caregiver, the authorities should take immediate action to reunite the child with her or his own family or extended family. But if it is determined that reunification is not the best option for the child, another permanent family situation should be sought. Every effort should be made to keep siblings together.
Governments, with the support of civil society, have a responsibility to provide appropriate and well-monitored alternative care for children without families. Options include placement with:
extended family
a pre-screened foster family
a residential facility that is integrated within the community, providing family-like care and supporting regular contact between the child and her or his family with the aim of reunification, if it is in the best interest of the child.
Children should be involved in decisions on their placement in alternative living situations.
Very often children placed in institutions could be raised in a family with the proper social support. While some orphanages are well managed, institutional life can be detrimental to children's development. It typically separates them from family and community life and offers less protection from abuse and exploitation.
Any form of institutional care should be considered a last resort and a temporary solution.
Every child has a right to a name and nationality. Registering a child's birth helps to ensure a child's right to education, health care and legal and social services. Birth registration is a vital step towards protection from abuse and exploitation.
Birth registration provides an official record of a child's existence and nationality. It is considered a fundamental human right. A child without a birth certificate can be denied health care, legal services, access to school and the right to vote upon reaching adulthood.
Registering a child's birth is a vital step towards her or his protection. Children under age 5 with a birth certificate are more likely to be immunized and receive health care for childhood illnesses, assuring them a healthy start in life.
Any enforcement of minimum-age legislation depends upon an official record of a child's age. For example, a birth certificate can be used to protect a child from illegal recruitment by armed forces or armed groups, from child marriage or from hazardous forms of work.
Birth registration should be free and accessible for every child. Where it is not, civil society organizations can sometimes assist families in registering their children.
The birth registration process may be supported by social services, such as health care and education. Health centres and hospitals sometimes have civil registrars on site that can provide a child's birth certificate at birth or during a health-care visit. Registration sometimes takes place in early childhood education programmes.
Girls and boys must be protected from all forms of violence and abuse. This includes physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect and harmful practices such as child marriage and genital mutilation/cutting of girls. Families, communities and authorities are responsible for ensuring this protection.
Girls and boys can encounter different forms of violence, abuse and/or harmful practices in many settings:
In the family and home:
physical violence
psychological violence
sexual violence and abuse
corporal (physical) punishment
neglect and abandonment
child marriage
harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C).
In schools and other educational activities:
corporal punishment
psychological punishment
sexual and gender-based violence
verbal and physical bullying
fighting.
In care and justice institutions (e.g., orphanages, children's homes and detention facilities):
physical and psychological violence under the guise of discipline
neglect
child-on-child violence
sexual abuse and violence.
In workplaces:
physical and psychological punishment
humiliation
sexual harassment and abuse.
In the community (among peers, between gangs, by the police and by traffickers):
physical violence

armed violence
sexual violence.
Children who experience or witness violence often remain silent out of fear, shame or stigma. Some accept it as part of life. While some violence is perpetrated by strangers, most is carried out by people children know and should be able to trust and look to for protection. These may include parents, step-parents or a parent's partner, relatives, caregivers, boyfriends and girlfriends, schoolmates, teachers, religious leaders and employers.
All girls and boys can be subjects of abuse. Generally, boys tend to be at greater risk of physical and armed violence and girls face greater risk of neglect and sexual violence and exploitation.
Certain groups of children are particularly vulnerable to violence. These include children with disabilities, children of minority groups, children living or working on the street, children in conflict with the law, and children who are refugees, displaced or migrating.
Babies and young children are sometimes the object of a parent's or other caregiver's anger or frustration, often when children do not stop crying. The caregiver may shake the baby or young child so hard and violently that it causes injury to the child's brain that can lead to permanent injury or death. It is never okay to shake a child. Symptoms of violent shaking include irritability, difficulty staying awake, difficulty breathing, shakiness, vomiting, seizures or coma. These symptoms require immediate medical care.
Typically, the focus is on intervention after child maltreatment occurs. Due to the magnitude of the problem, it is critical that communities shift the emphasis to preventing child violence, abuse, neglect and harmful practices.
Every community should create and implement a plan of action to eliminate violence against children. Some key actions may include:
develop and broadly communicate codes of conduct against all forms of violence in settings where children live, go to school, play and work
educate parents and caregivers to respect the child's perspective, learn how to use positive and non-violent discipline and not to discipline a child when


angry
support schools to nurture attitudes that reject violence and promote non-violent conflict resolution. This can involve changing classroom management (traditionally based on fear, threats, humiliation and physical punishment) to a child-friendly approach that is non-discriminatory and supports cooperative learning
sponsor public campaigns to stop corporal punishment, abuse and harmful practices such as child marriage and genital mutilation/cutting
provide children affected by violence with health and social services to help them reintegrate into their families and communities
establish safe ways for children to report violence against them, such as telephone hotlines or accessible social protection centres.
Children must be protected from all work that is hazardous. Work should not prevent them from attending school. Children should never be involved in the worst forms of child labour, such as slavery, forced labour, drug production or trafficking.
Children who work often do so to support their families' livelihood so they can eat and have basic necessities. Many children begin working at an early age, as young as 4 years old. In many cases, it is considered normal for children to work long hours before or after school, or to work all day and evening and not attend school at all.
Children can be found working in agriculture, commerce, factories, fishing, markets, housekeeping, childcare, handicrafts, restaurants, garbage dumps and in the streets.
Close to 70 per cent of working children work in agriculture, this can be extremely hazardous. It can involve heavy manual labour, long hours, and the use of pesticides and dangerous tools. Children can be at risk of sexual abuse and exploitation, especially during harvesting season (when they often work extra-long hours) and while working on plantations.
Some children are engaged in the worst forms of child labour, such as child slavery, debt bondage, forced labour, drug production and trafficking. These are illegal. Children must be removed immediately from such situations and, if it is in their best interest, reintegrated into their families and communities.
The work children do should not be hazardous to their health or well-being. It should not prevent children from going to school.
The government and local authorities, with support from families and civil society, should develop measures to address harmful child labour situations, such as:
identifying and communicating to the general public the different forms of harmful child labour found in the community and the forms children might encounter if they migrate
identifying and removing children from harmful child labour
helping children removed from harmful child labour who live away from their families to reintegrate into their family and community, if it is in their best interest
ensuring that all children in the community attend a child-friendly school full-time and receive an education that is of good quality, equal for all children and free from violence
providing income support and/or social welfare services to families who need them, so they are less reliant on their children's income and can send them to school.
Families need to know the risks involved in sending their children away for work, such as domestic and agricultural work.
Children and adolescents should be well informed about the dangers of leaving home and taking work that might land them in high-risk situations such as prostitution and drug trafficking.
Girls and boys can be at risk of sexual abuse and exploitation in their home, school, workplace or community. Measures should be taken to prevent sexual abuse and exploitation. Sexually abused and exploited children need immediate help to stop such abuse.
Children need to be protected from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.
Most children who are sexually abused know their abusers. Most abusers are relatives or acquaintances of the child. A much smaller percentage of offenders are

strangers. Most child sexual abuse is committed by men. Whatever the case, sexual abuse or exploitation is never the child's fault. The responsibility always lies with the abuser.
Every person has a unique reaction to sexual abuse or sexual exploitation, regardless of the type, extent or duration. Victims may show a range of emotional responses such as calm, anger, indifference or shock.
Some children may be exposed to life-threatening situations, such as sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Girls may face the added risk of early and unwanted pregnancies that endanger their lives and can subject them to stigma and discrimination.
Children can begin to learn early on about 'good' touch versus 'bad' touch. Children can also be taught to tell an adult they trust if they have experienced a 'bad' touch. If a child comes to an adult with such information, the adult must take the child's claims seriously and immediately ensure that the abuse stops. The abuse should be reported to the authorities, and the child should receive protection services.
Many children and young people who have been victims of sexual abuse or exploitation heal and go on to lead normal lives. Sexual abuse in childhood does not automatically lead to sexually aggressive behaviour. Most sexual offenders have not been sexually abused as children, and most children who are sexually abused do not abuse others.
Governments are responsible for ensuring that systems and specific measures are in place to:
prevent child abuse, violence and exploitation
enable children to report abuse and exploitation
make sure perpetrators of sexual abuse and exploitation are dealt with to the full extent of the law
make social services, such as health care, psychosocial support, temporary care, education and legal assistance, timely and available for children who have been abused and exploited.
Children are vulnerable to trafficking where protection for children is weak or missing. The government, civil society and families are responsible for preventing trafficking, as well as helping children who are victims to reintegrate into their families and communities, if it is in their best interest.
Trafficking of children is one of the fastest growing transnational crimes, occurring in and between countries. Profit from human trafficking has been estimated at approximately US$9.5 billion annually.
Children who are trafficked are:
treated as commodities
subject to violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation and HIV infection.
It is calculated that the majority of the children trafficked every year are girls who are sexually exploited.
Children and families burdened by poverty and with limited access to information may leave their communities because they believe better opportunities await them elsewhere. Sometimes children are promised a good education, a well-paying job or a better life. Instead they may find themselves smuggled or moved across borders or taken within their own country by traffickers and forced into dangerous situations. These may include domestic servitude, prostitution, forced marriage or begging.
It is important for children and families choosing to leave their communities to understand where they are going. They should know:
what they can expect
potential risks involved during travel as well as at the destination
what to do if they get into a trafficking situation.
Governments can support local authorities and civil society to:
distribute information to parents and children on the risks of migration and sending children away to work
distribute information to communities on how negative attitudes towards migrant children can lead to social acceptance of child trafficking or indifference to it
gain parental support to keep children in school and not allow them to drop out for work
provide social services as needed to help reduce parents' dependence on their children's income or work
address and reduce domestic violence, which can influence a child's decision to leave home
treat children as victims of crime and not as criminals, and provide them with support and the time they need to recover before returning them to their families and communities or alternative care
make and enforce laws that prosecute traffickers.
Justice for children should be based on child rights. Depriving children of their liberty (incarcerating them) must always be a last resort. Procedures that are sensitive to children should be put in place for children who are victims or witnesses of crime.
Placing children who have committed crimes or have been accused of committing crimes in a detention centre, prison or reform school or any other closed setting should always be a last resort. Detention can be detrimental to children's development and make reintegration into society more difficult.
Alternatives such as mediation, community service and counselling produce better results for children and their families and communities. Such alternatives are generally more respectful of children's rights and help children learn how to take on a more constructive role in society. This should be the objective of all justice interventions concerning children.
The majority of children in detention have not committed a serious offence. They are often detained for dropping out of school, running away from home, using alcohol, begging or vagrancy. Some children are in detention because they have been exploited by adults through prostitution or drug dealing.
Children can remain in detention for months or years awaiting review of their case. These children are at higher risk of violence and exposure to drugs, HIV infection and other health problems. Detention can interrupt their schooling and distance them from family. Children in detention generally need a social protection response, not a judicial one.
Children who are in detention should:
be separated from adult offenders
have their cases addressed within a short time frame
be separated by gender
have appropriate means to report violence committed against them while in detention.
Pregnant women and mothers with children in detention need special protection, care and support. All children in these circumstances are entitled to protection of their rights, such as access to health care and education.
Child-sensitive procedures for boys and girls should be put in place for child victims and witnesses of crime. Such procedures should:
prevent contact between the child and the alleged perpetrator (the person who is accused of committing the crime)
allow for the child's full participation in the justice process
ensure
Income support and social welfare services can help keep families together and children in school and ensure access to health care.
All children have a right to age-appropriate information, to be heard and to participate in making decisions that concern them. Fulfilment of this right enables children to take an active role in their own protection against abuse, violence and exploitation, and to become active citizens.
Households that need income support and social welfare services may be headed by the elderly, widows, children or individuals who are sick or disabled. This can include families affected by HIV.
Income support and social welfare services can provide children and families the means to:
purchase food
pay for or access health care and education
keep families together
keep children out of institutional care or from working or living on the street
help families break out of the cycle of poverty.
The government and local authorities, with support from civil society, can help identify families in need. They can assist families with income support and social welfare services such as counselling and legal aid. It is important to ensure that families do not face discrimination related to accessing or using the services.
Information on income support and social welfare services can be provided through various communication channels, including health centres, schools and community centres; during community meetings and events; and through radio and loudspeaker announcements.
All children have a right to age-appropriate information, to be heard and to participate in making decisions that concern them. Fulfilment of this right enables children to take an active role in their own protection against abuse, violence and exploitation, and to become active citizens.
From a very early age, including during infancy, girls and boys form and express views and interests. As they grow so does their ability to participate in decisions that concern them and their families and communities.
Children and adults should actively and consistently talk to each other, sharing information and ideas in the home, school and community. The exchange should be based on mutual respect. Children's views should be listened to and taken seriously in accordance with the child's age and maturity.
Girls and boys who express their opinions freely are more likely to assume responsibilities, develop critical thinking and communication skills, and make informed decisions as they grow. They are often able to:
learn and perform better in school
contribute to making responsible decisions regarding their education and health
protect themselves against sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, unwanted pregnancy, bullying, bias, discrimination, harassment, violence, abuse and exploitation

learn and practise active citizenship and grow into adults who will be ready to exercise their rights and responsibilities.
Children are avid users, producers and subjects of media, a powerful source for influencing opinion and perceptions among children. Different forms of media can be used responsibly to broaden children's knowledge, inform them on how to protect themselves and develop their citizenship skills.
Children-led associations or clubs can give girls and boys a place to voice their ideas, perspectives and concerns. Such clubs provide an opportunity for them to socialize and develop their interests and leadership skills.

CHILD LABOUR

In the world’s poorest countries, slightly more than 1 in 4 children are engaged in child labour
Children around the world are routinely engaged in paid and unpaid forms of work that are not harmful to them. However, they are classified as child labourers when they are either too young to work or are involved in hazardous activities that may compromise their physical, mental, social or educational development. In the least developed countries, slightly more than one in four children (ages 5 to 17) is engaged in labour that is considered detrimental to their health and development.
The issue of child labour is guided by three main international conventions: the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 138 concerning minimum age for admission to employment and Recommendation No. 146 (1973); ILO Convention No. 182 concerning the prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour and Recommendation No. 190 (1999); and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. These conventions frame the concept of child labour and form the basis for child labour legislation enacted by countries that are signatories.
Prevalence of child labour
Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest proportion of child labourers (29 per cent of children aged 5 to 17 years). This is in stark comparison to the Middle East and North Africa, where 5 per cent of children in this age group are performing potentially harmful work.
Gender disparities
In all regions, boys and girls are equally likely to be involved in child labour. However, gender disparities are often observed in the types of activities carried out, with girls far more likely to be involved in unpaid household services.

Everyone should have a voice
Stop child abuse

CHILD MARRIAGE

Child marriage is a violation of human rights, but is all too common
Marriage before the age of 18 is a fundamental violation of human rights. Many factors interact to place a child at risk of marriage, including poverty, the perception that marriage will provide ‘protection’, family honor, social norms, customary or religious laws that condone the practice, an inadequate legislative framework and the state of a country’s civil registration system. While the practice is more common among girls than boys, it is a violation of rights regardless of sex.     Reference : UNICEF
Child marriage often compromises a girl’s development by resulting in early pregnancy and social isolation, interrupting her schooling and limiting her opportunities for career and vocational advancement. Although the impact on child grooms has not been extensively studied, marriage may similarly place boys in an adult role for which they are unprepared, and may place economic pressures on them and curtail their opportunities for further education or career advancement.
Cohabitation – when a couple lives ‘in union’, as if married – raises the same human rights concerns as marriage. When a couple cohabitates, the assumption is often that they are adults, even if one or both has not yet reached the age of 18. Additional concerns due to the informality of the relationship – in terms of inheritance, citizenship and social recognition, for example – may make children in informal unions vulnerable in different ways than those who are formally married.
The issue of child marriage is addressed in a number of international conventions and agreements. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, for example, covers the right to protection from child marriage in article 16, which states: “The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage….” The right to ‘free and full’ consent to marriage is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which says that consent cannot be ‘free and full’ when one of the parties involved is not sufficiently mature to make an informed decision about a life partner. Although marriage is not mentioned directly in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, child marriage is linked to other rights – such as the right to freedom of expression, the right to protection from all forms of abuse, and the right to be protected from harmful traditional practices – and is frequently addressed by the Committee on the Rights of the Child. Other international agreements related to child marriage are the Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.
 
Child Marriage among Girls
Across the globe, levels of child marriage are highest in sub-Saharan Africa, where 35 per cent of young women were married before age 18, followed by South Asia, where nearly 30 per cent were married before age 18. Lower levels of child marriage are found in Latin America and Caribbean (24 per cent, data not shown), the Middle East and North Africa (17 per cent), and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (12 per cent, data not shown).
The prevalence of child marriage is decreasing globally, with the most progress in the past decade seen in South Asia, where a girl’s risk of marrying in childhood has dropped by more than a third, from nearly 50 per cent to just below 30 per cent.
Still, the total number of girls married in childhood stands at 12 million per year, and progress must be significantly accelerated in order to end the practice by 2030 – the target set out in the Sustainable Development Goals. Without further acceleration, more than 120 million additional girls will marry before their 18th birthday by 2030.
Child Marriage among Boys
While boys and girls who marry in childhood do not face the same risks and consequences due to biological and social differences, the practice is nonetheless a rights violation for children of both sexes. Similar to child brides, child grooms are forced to take on adult responsibilities for which they may not be prepared. The union may bring early fatherhood and result in additional economic pressure in the form of providing for the household; it may also constrain the boy’s access to education and opportunities for career advancement.
Globally, 115 million boys and men were married before age 18. The countries in which child marriage among boys is most common are geographically diverse and differ from the countries in which the practice is most common among girls.
While child grooms are less numerous than child brides, they similarly have experienced a rights violation that cuts short their childhood. Further research is needed on the drivers of the practice and its effect on child grooms.

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (FGM)
At least 200 million girls and women alive today living in 31 countries have undergone FGM
Female genital mutilation (FGM) refers to “all procedures involving partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.”
FGM is a violation of girls’ and women’s human rights. While the exact number of girls and women worldwide who have undergone FGM remains unknown, at least 200 million girls and women have been cut in 31 countries with representative data on prevalence. However, the majority of girls and women in most countries with available data think FGM should end and there has been an overall decline in the prevalence of the practice over the last three decades, but not all countries have made progress and the pace of decline has been uneven.
The World Health Organization (WHO) classified FGM into four broad categories in 1995 and again in 2007:
Type I: Partial or total removal of the clitoris and/or the prepuce.
Type II: Partial or total removal of the clitoris and labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora.
Type III: Narrowing of the vaginal orifice by cutting and bringing together the labia minora and/or the labia majora to create a type of seal, with or without excision of the clitoris. In most instances, the cut edges of the labia are stitched together, which is referred to as ‘infibulation’.
Type IV: All other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, for example: pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterization.
FGM is condemned by a number of international treaties and conventions, as well as by national legislation in many countries. Article 25 of the  Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being,” and this statement has been used to argue that FGM violates the right to health and bodily integrity. With FGM considered as a form of violence against women, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women can be invoked. Similarly, defining it as a form of torture brings it under the rubric of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Moreover, since FGM is regarded as a traditional practice prejudicial to the health of children and is, in most cases, performed on minors, it violates the Convention on the Rights of the Child. An interagency statement on FGM, issued by 10 UN organizations, was issued in 2008.
 
Prevalence
Available data from large-scale representative surveys show that the practice of FGM is highly concentrated in a swath of countries from the Atlantic coast to the Horn of Africa, in areas of the Middle East such as Iraq and Yemen and in some countries in Asia like Indonesia and the Maldives, with wide variations in prevalence. The practice is almost universal in Somalia, Guinea and Djibouti, with levels around 90 per cent, while it affects no more than 1 per cent of adolescent girls in Cameroon, the Maldives and  Uganda.
However, FGM is a human rights issue that affects girls and women worldwide. Evidence suggests that FGM exists in places including Colombia India, Malaysia, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with large variations in terms of the type performed, circumstances surrounding the practice and size of the affected population groups. In these contexts, however, the available evidence comes from (sometimes outdated) small-scale studies or anecdotal accounts, and there are no representative data as yet on prevalence. The practice is also found in pockets of Europe and in Australia and North America which, for the last several decades, have been destinations for migrants from countries where the practice still occurs
Prevailing attitudes
Girls’ and women’s attitudes about FGM also vary widely across countries. The highest levels of support can be found in Mali, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Somalia and Egypt where more than half of the female population thinks the practice should continue. However, the majority of girls and women think it should end in most countries with representative data on attitudes (23 out of 30).

Everyone should have a voice
Stop child abuse

Fight against Child Abuse and Promote Proper Treatment

Millennium Child Support Group (MCSG) main objective is to fight against all forms of abuse, to improve child protection across Africa, and to promote proper treatment.
What is well treatment?
Well treatment consists of a set of positive and encouraging behaviours towards people – including children in situations of extreme vulnerability. It promotes personal growth and the development of the child, as well as recognition, empathy, communication and respect for each other.
Children’s participation is a key aspect of proper treatment: they must be able to express their opinions and build a positive image of themselves. MCSG and its partners encourage children to become active in promoting a culture of tolerance and welfare.
Supporting Child victims of abuse
Children worldwide are victims of physical, sexual and psychological violence. These problems are due to multiple socio-cultural and family factors. Some forms of abuse are still socially accepted as a traditional form of education.
However, any form of violence, abuse or neglect of children and adolescents is not justifiable, nor is violence acceptable even as a form of education.
For this reason, Millennium Child Support Group MCSG works with its network of members to prevent child abuse and to encourage proper treatment. MCSG is against abuse and promotes well treatment.
MCSG and its partners use a comprehensive approach in dealing with cases of abuse:
1. The prevention of Abuse
Children are taught techniques for the prevention of abuse, which they can in turn use to promote proper treatment. Prevention also allows adults to be aware of the status of the child as a subject of law.
2. Counselling and legal support for abused children
MCSG and its partners work to promote the resilience of children. They support the psychological and physical healing of abused children, and help them to plan for their future. Sometimes abuse cases are tried in court and allow child victims to receive expert legal support.
3. Advocacy against child abuse
MCSG invests heavily to ensure those children’s rights and child protection laws are applied. In addition, it assists its partners in the field in order to develop local policies on comprehensive protection of the child.

Everyone should have a voice
Stop child abuse

CHILD ONLINE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

Online Child Sexual Exploitation
While the Internet has been a positive catalyst for innovation, education, and economic growth, it has also enabled those who would harm children by making it easier for them to produce, access and share child sexual abuse materials; to find like-minded offenders; and reduce their risk of detection. And as connectivity expands, so too do sexual crimes committed against children where online tools and/or services are used.

Online sexual exploitation most commonly includes grooming, live streaming, consuming child sexual abuse material and coercing and blackmailing children for sexual purposes. As technology advances, new forms of this crime emerge. Never before has it been easier for perpetrators to make contact with children, share images of abuse, hide their identity and profits – and inspire each other to commit further crimes.
Behind every image, video or screen, there is a real child victim being sexually exploited. Like other forms of sexual abuse, online abuse can scar victims emotionally and physically for a lifetime. But unlike other forms of abuse, the child can potentially be re-victimized millions of times – every time an image is watched, sent or received.
Identifying and investigating offenders is difficult, as they often adapt technology, such as darknet portals or other anonymous channels, to enable their offending and avoid detection. Online sexual exploitation often occurs across multiple jurisdictions, with victims and offenders often in different countries. Some countries are yet to update legislation that criminalizes the viewing or possession of child sexual abuse material online.
WHAT IS ONLINE CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION?
Online child sexual abuse material
Accessing, possessing, producing and/or distributing images and/or videos of child sexual abuse. This crime is often referred to as “child pornography”. There are billions of examples of this kind of material on the Internet today.
Grooming of children for sexual purposes
Developing a relationship with a child to enable their sexual abuse and/or exploitation, either online or offline. The proliferation of social media, messaging and live-streaming apps in recent years have seen a dramatic increase in reports of this crime.
Live-streaming sexual abuse of children.
Using online video applications to view, and sometimes interact with the sexual abuse of children live. Some countries, such as the Philippines have become hubs for this kind of abuse in recent years, where poverty is causing some parents to abuse their own children for profit.
Sextortion: coercing and blackmailing children for sexual purposes
Producing and/or utilizing sexual images and/or videos depicting a child, for the purposes of sexual, financial or other personal gains. Offenders can be adults or peers of the victims – and sometimes the child sexual abuse material is self-produced through manipulation of the victim.

Everyone should have a voice
Stop child abuse

Sale and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purpose


Children are being trafficked and sexually exploited in every region of the world, both online and offline. They are taken out of their protective environment, they are recruited, transported, transferred and harboured, which has devastating consequences. 
While exact figures are difficult to find, the ILO estimates there are more than 40 million victims of trafficking globally every year and almost 20% are children. However, in some parts of Africa and the Mekong region, children are the majority of victims. UNODC figures indicate that of those victims detected by law enforcement, almost 80% were being trafficked for sexual exploitation. Although victims are predominantly women and girls, men and boys are affected as well. There are no exact figures, but according to UNODC in 2019, the majority of trafficked children were sexually exploited, and one in three known trafficking victims were children.
Sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism
The connection between travel and tourism and the sexual exploitation of children might not be obvious. But as the travel and tourism industry expands with cheaper tickets and better connections, the opportunities for child sex offenders to exploit children also increases. No country or child is immune.
The travel and tourism industry is in a key position to protect children from this crime by making sure their services and venues are not misused by child sex offenders. Orphanage tourism and mega-events are examples where offenders easily can access and exploit children.
Report child exploitation
Report it, Don’t ignore it!
.
If you have witnessed a crime being committed against a child, your first priority (where possible) should be to contact the local police.
Are you a child in need of support? Or do you believe that a child is being abused, exploited or endangered?
This page, compiled by our partner organization Child Helpline International, can help you find the contact details of the child helpline service in your country, where you will be able to confidentially seek further assistance.
For travellers and tourists
If you are a tourist and you see something suspicious, report it to the local police. Don’t delay, police may need to act quickly to rescue the child or catch the suspect. Provide as much information as possible. Note key details, such as:
Anything you can say about the victim or suspect’s identity. This includes physical descriptions, such as clothing, hair colour, facial features, weight, height, distinguishing features, tattoos and ages;

Anything else that might help identify those involved, such as license plate numbers, vehicle make/type/colour (take a picture if it is safe to do so), accents, languages used etc.

Location details, such as the name of restaurants and street names (you can geotag it on your phone);

Details of other witnesses;

If you are worried about your own security or safety;

The exact time of the day or night.

This page, compiled by our partner organization Child Helpline International, can help you find the contact details of the child helpline service in your country, where you will be able to confidentially seek further assistance.
>> Find a helpline or hotline. <<
https://www.childhelplineinternational.org/child-helplines/child-helpline-network/

Learn more about Online Child Sexual Exploitation , kindly visit
Internet Watch Foundation 
Global Partner to End Violence against children
ECPAT
INhope

Everyone should have a voice
Stop child abuse


You can anonymously and confidentially report:
Child Sexual Abuse Content
Non-photographic child sexual abuse images
Report criminal content

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