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Child violence hotline inundated with calls

[Egypt] Child violence poster - Unicef UNICEF
An emergency phone hotline, set up as part of an effort to tackle violence against children, has attracted 25,000 phone calls within its first four weeks of operation, according to child safety workers in Cairo. “After exactly 24 days of operation, we have received 25,000 phone calls,” Dr Manal Shahin, director of the project, told IRIN in the Egyptian capital. “However, only 1,200 phone calls were real complaints in which we have taken procedures to solve.” The service was established in the wake of a Regional Consultation on Violence Against Children in the Middle East and North Africa, hosted by the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), which was held in Cairo from 27-29 June. That meeting was part on an in-depth UN Study on Violence Against Children aiming to provide an understanding of the nature, extent, causes and consequences of different forms of violence against children, and to offer solutions and responses. See full report: www.unicef.org Most of the phone calls to the hotline were related to street children, legal issues concerning children, and psychological issues, according to Shahin. “We also had some complaints of violence committed against children,” she said. In one case, a complaint was made against a school teacher hitting pupils. “We immediately informed the Ministry of Education, which in turn did all the necessary procedures to prevent such behaviour,” Shahin said. Another complaint was made by a little girl who was afraid that she would be circumcised. “We immediately sent a social worker to the family to try to convince them not to circumcise the girl,” she added. According to her, the main goal of the project is to address violence against children while sustaining and strengthening family bonds. “In that way, we have been able to solve 90 percent of the complaints,” she said. “But if the family is refusing our intervention, then there is no way we can provide assistance.” The hotline initiative was inspired by the Regional Consultation on Violence Against Children in late June, the first regional meeting to deal exclusively with violence against children. The most challenging forms of violence against children are those that are linked to the prevailing culture, said Ambassador Moushira Khatab, secretary-general of the NCCM and vice-chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. “The issue of violence starts with the family and ends with the family. The solution lies in raising awareness in the family on how to discipline the child without resorting to violence.” While paying respect to the religions and values of the Middle East and North Africa region, a declaration by delegates at the conference said that some people abuse them as a pretext to committing violence against children. “There are certain alien practices introduced in our culture that constitute blatant violence against our sons and daughters,” the declaration said. “These practices must be banned.” One recommendation from a delegation of children involved setting up school committees to monitor reports of violence, raise awareness and give voice to children’s concerns. “Adults may understand the violence but we feel it,” said 15-year-old Bassem Abdel Salam at the consultation meeting. “We can give a clear perspective of reality rather than a theoretical one. We are the victims, not the perpetrators.” Violence against children is not just a matter of physical violence but involves any violation of the natural rights of a child, as stipulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, according to Dr Shahin. “We came up with this [hotline] initiative to break the silence between the policy makers and society, and to have access to real problems and be able to solve them,” Shahin said. That was the best way to ensure community participation. The emergency children’s line covers the governorates of Cairo, Alexandria, Giza, and Qalyubia. “We have chosen to start with these four governorates because of their population density,” Shahin explained. The NCCM hopes to expand the operation to four other governorates by the end of next year. The council has signed a cooperation agreement on the operation of the helpline with 25 NGOs operating in different sectors in the governorates served. Phone calls are taken and assessed at NCCM headquarters, and - once a given problem is understood – a relevant NGO is contacted to follow up with the caller. “From our side, we send our own experts to the field to monitor the work done,” Shahin said. “We had to cut cooperation with two NGOs because they did not deal with a matter concerning a child,” she added, emphasising that each party had to fulfil its responsibilities for the project to succeed in protecting children. Four Egyptian ministries are also involved in the project: the ministries of education, justice, social affairs, and of the interior are informed when a matter concerning their area of expertise is reported to the communication centre. So far the project appears to be meeting a need, according to Manal Shahin, but no real indicators of success will be apparent until at least the end of the year.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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