Violence against girls and boys cuts across all boundaries of age, race, culture, wealth and geography. It takes place in the home, on the streets, in schools, online, in the workplace, in detention centres and in institutions for the care of children. For countless girls and boys the world over, childhood is described by one word: fear.
Children’s exposure to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation manifests itself in many forms and their suffering goes hand in hand with deprivation, high risks of poor health and risky behavior, poor school performance, long term welfare dependency, limited opportunities for future employment and loss of earnings in adulthood. For very young children it may have irreversible consequences on brain development and opportunities to thrive later in life. In addition, violence is often associated with poor rule of law and a culture of impunity; and it has far-reaching costs for society, slowing economic development and eroding nations’ human and social capital.
The CAN-MDS is an innovative Surveillance System for child abuse and neglect incidents using a common methodology across countries and, critically, across different sectors, services and professional specialties within countries. It will significantly fill the gap in our knowledge on the magnitude of this problem, enable us to have a better understanding of its nature and consequences and therefore to better prevent violence against children.
The CAN-MDS Policy & Procedures Manual is primarily targeted at policy makers and key stakeholders working in any administrative sector involved in individual child abuse and neglect cases, as well as any interested party working to prevent child abuse and neglect.
Take a look at it here: CAN-MDS Policy and Procedures Manual_EU version
Fill in a questionaire about the topic: Questionnaire national feasibility CAN-MDS-1_form