IJM Attends Inaugural Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children

IJM sent a delegation to the inaugural Global Ministerial Conference on Violence Against Children that was convened by the Government of Colombia, with the support of the Government of Sweden, UNICEF, the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, and the World Health Organization. The event aims to guide governments worldwide in implementing strategies to end violence against children (VAC).

This conference was an unprecedented opportunity for IJM to advocate for better care and access to justice for children on a global scale through two key satellite events on survivor advocacy and online child protection. Here are some of IJM's key recommendations:

1. Children need access to justice

IJM affirms Sustainable Development Goal 16 (providing access to justice for all) and INSPIRE’s focus on implementing and enforcing laws that protect children from violence, including in the digital environment. IJM recommends that Pathfinding Countries and institutional donors prioritize access to justice as a key strategy to child protection.

2. Children need child-centered, trauma-informed justice systems

A functioning justice system plays a dual role in addressing violence against children. In crisis, public justice systems ensure the safety of victims and provide trauma-informed, victim-centered responses that shift power from abuser to victim, restore agency to survivors, and create a pathway of freedom from cyclical violence. Over time, visible justice that effectively and efficiently provides services to communities creates confidence in and reliance on justice actors where the enforcement of good law changes behavior, pushes against harmful social norms and can deter and prevent violence.

Signatories should commit to increasing access to justice for children and adolescents that is trauma‑informed and victim-centered. A trauma-informed response requires that government procedures and budgets that:

1. Reflect a sense of urgency for justice actors to effectively investigate reports of VAC without causing revictimization
2. Ensure the safety of children who have experienced abuse and exploitation
3. Hold abusers accountable through prosecution

Survivor-centered justice systems also ensure access to reparations that create pathways for restoration.

3. It is critical to actively target the explosion of online violence against children

Children are sexually abused and exploited in person while that abuse is shared online by offenders for perpetual consumption. The online production and distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) means that these abuses continue to harm and haunt children in perpetuity. As a result, any effective response must include legal responsibility and accountability for online service providers and device manufacturers to mitigate harm by building their platforms and products with safety by design to prevent the production and distribution of CSAM and provide actionable reports to law enforcement. Actionable reports will allow children to receive protection and access justice even when they are not in a position to report the abuse themselves—either due to their young age, fear or other factors.

 John Tanagho, Executive Director of IJM’s Center to End Online Sexual Exploitation of Children called for urgent action:

”The world cannot turn a blind eye to children repeatedly sexually abused live on platforms, apps and devices. It is entirely possible to protect children while upholding democratic values like free speech and user privacy, but stronger regulations are urgently needed to catalyze industry wide change globally. Global governments must recognize the scale of online child abuse, and act fast to stop it.”   

4. Survivor voices must be at the heart of policy development

Survivor voices are vital to transforming justice systems.  Vanessa Bautista, a founding member of the Global Survivor Network leadership council and an Advocacy Lead at IJM, was only 8 years old when she experienced sexual violence herself. She emphasized the need for action:

"Protecting children from violence is urgent. Up to 1 billion children aged 2 to 17 are estimated to  have experienced violence in the last year. As a child, I remember shaking and crying as I finally summoned the courage to tell my friend that I’m tired of living in this violence and that I needed help. This Ministerial Conference is the first time that global governments have come together in this way to make commitments to ending violence against children – and it could be a gamechanger in helping children like me. For this to happen, governments must commit to giving people with lived experience of violence a seat at the table in advising on solutions – and they must ensure that trauma-informed, child-centered justice systems are protecting children everywhere, including online."