CRC concluding observations 2023, paragraph 33

The Committee urges the State party to: (a) Ensure that child protection systems take a child rights-based approach in preventing and addressing cases of abuse and neglect, including psychological violence; that social services and other mechanisms for identifying and supporting children at risk of violence as well as child victims of violence are adequately resourced; and that child victims are fully recognized as victims and have access to community-based, trauma care and child-sensitive support services; (b) Ensure that the Victims Bill clearly defines the criminal exploitation of children, protection for children who are victims of violence, and the roles and responsibilities of domestic and sexual violence advisors; (c) Promptly and effectively investigate and intervene in all cases of violence against children, including domestic violence, sexual exploitation and abuse of children, in and outside the home, in the digital environment, in religious and educational institutions and in alternative care settings, and ensure expert support to child victims and that perpetrators are brought to justice; (d) Strengthen measures aimed at tackling violence against children, including by implementing the recommendations of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse in England and Wales, the Gillen Review in Northern Ireland, the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry and other relevant inquiries and investigations conducted by independent bodies; (e) Develop measures aimed at preventing violence against children in alternative care, children with disabilities, asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children and children belonging to minority groups; (f) Ensure that all children who are victims or witnesses of violence have prompt access to child-sensitive, multisectoral and comprehensive interventions, services and support, including forensic interviews and psychological therapy, with the aim of preventing the secondary victimization of those children, and allocate sufficient resources for the implementation and expansion of the barnahus and similar models such as the Lighthouse in London; (g) Ensure a child rights and trauma care-based approach in the provision of support services for victims, including the Bairns’ Hoose standards in Scotland, and that such services and support are also available for, and address the specific needs of, all victims of violence; (h) Ensure that all child victims of violence, including sexual abuse, are allowed as child witnesses to provide video recorded evidence for testimony and crossexamination during the pre-trial stage as a default process in judicial procedures under Sections 21 and 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act, and that they have access to appropriate therapy without delay; (i) Strengthen efforts to train professionals working with and for children, including social workers, law enforcement authorities and the judiciary, to identify and effectively respond to cases of violence, including sexual exploitation; (j) Strengthen the implementation of legislation protecting children from “abuse of trust” in all environments and extracurricular activities in Northern Ireland; (k) Ensure the systematic collection and analysis of data on child protection issues and violence against children to inform the implementation of national strategies on violence and child sexual abuse, including by: (i) creating a national database for missing children; (ii) collecting data on cases that have been reported, investigated and prosecuted; and (iii) ensuring that data on the sexual exploitation and abuse of 16- and 17-year-old children is disaggregated as children.