A Snapshot of Violence Against Children in Serbia 7
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Determinants, Factors and Interventions RESEARCH TO POLICY AND PRACTICE PROCESS VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN IN SERBIA DETERMINANTS, FACTORS AND INTERVENTIONS A NATIONAL REPORT A National Report Violence Against Children in Serbia Publisher UNICEF in Serbia For the publisher Michel Saint-Lot, Representative Design Rastko Toholj Cover photo ©UNICEF Serbia/Milos Bicanski ISBN 978-86-80902-01-2 Published in 2017 Acknowlegdements This study on determinants, factors and interventions of violence in Serbia has been carried out as part of a wider process — the Research to Policy and Practice Process (R3P), conceptualised by the UNICEF Office of Research — Innocenti. It is the result of collaboration among many individuals and institutions, which we would like to acknowledge here. UNICEF in Serbia thanks all who gave their time, expertise and energy, in particular: Mary Catherine Maternowska of the UNICEF Office of Research — Innocenti for her vision and guidance on this effort. The SeConS development initiative group, and notably Professor Marija Babović, Professor Veronika Išpanović and Jovana Obradović, MA, for their contribution to analyzing the literature, mapping the interventions and writing the report. Professor Judith Hollenweger Haskell from the Zurich University of Teacher Education for providing mentoring support during the key phases of the process. An invaluable contribution was provided by each member of the Ministerial Committee. Important inputs were given by the Technical Group, an informal advisory body consisting of experts from different fields — social protection specialists, psychologists, anthropologists, experts from the education system, etc., who also peer reviewed the study. Thanks also go to a number of stakeholders who participated in four regional and one national consultative meeting and helped improve the study — child protection professionals, academic researchers, civil society representatives, and government and local authority stakeholders. Finally, the study would not have been possible without the financial support of the Swiss National Committee for UNICEF. 2 Research to Policy and Practice Process Determinants, Factors and Interventions Table of Contents List of Abbreviations 5 List of Tables and Figures 6 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 7 A snapshot of violence against children in Serbia 7 Social and policy context in which violence against children occurs 10 What drives violence against children and why this is important? 11 What has been done to prevent violence and protect children from violence? 14 Main weaknesses of the system for preventing and protecting children from violence 17 What are key priorities for next stage of policy interventions? 18 2 INTRODUCTION 20 Purpose, objectives and scope of research 20 Conceptual framework 22 Methodology 28 The structure of the study 30 3 ТHE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN AND RELEVANT POLICIES 31 Social-economic conditions in Serbia 31 Scope and characteristics of violence against children 34 Policies for prevention, elimination of violence against children and protection 41 of children from violence 4 DETERMINANTS AND FACTORS OF VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN IN SERBIA 44 Technical information about the reviewed literature 44 Overview of determinants and factors represented in literature about violence against children 46 Determinants and factors at the macro level 49 Determinants and factors at the meso level 51 Determinants and factors at the micro level 55 Personal factors 58 A National Report Violence Against Children in Serbia INTERVENTIONS FOR PREVENTING AND ELIMINATING VIOLENCE 59 5 AGAINST CHILDREN AND PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM VIOLENCE Subjects of interventions 60 Determinants and factors as intervention targets 61 6 CONCLUSIONS 80 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING THE SYSTEM FOR PREVENTING 87 7 AND PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM VIOLENCE Recommendations for improving the system for preventing and protecting children 87 from violence Recommendations for improving knowledge of determinants and factors of violence 98 against children and of the system of prevention and protection Literature 105 Annex 1 — Key stages and organization of the research process 112 Annex 2 — List of reviewed literature 113 Annex 3 — Methodology of the literature analysis 128 The overall scope of the literature analysis 128 The matrix for the literature analysis 128 Selection process and limitations 130 Annex 4 — Methodology of the intervention mapping 132 Mapping interventions in literature reviewed 132 Mapping interventions within various systems 132 4 Research to Policy and Practice Process Determinants, Factors and Interventions List of Abbreviations BECAN Balkan Epidemiological Study on Child Abuse and Neglect CSO Civil society organization CSW Centre for social work EU European Union GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit IAN International Aid Network ITC Incest Trauma Center MICS Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey MoI Ministry of Interior NGO Non-governmental organization NISP National Institute for Social Protection R3P Research to Policy and Practice Process UASC Unaccompanied or separated children UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UN Refugee Agency) UNICEF The United Nations Children’s Fund VAC Violence against children WHO World Health Organization A National Report 5 Violence Against Children in Serbia List of Tables and Figures Tables Table 1: Typology of determinants and factors used in research Table 2: Various indicators of socio-economic situation in Serbia Table 3: Identification of representation of determinants and factors of specific type in the analysis of violence against children which occur in different settings Table 4: Determinants and factors of violence against children as targets of interventions Figures Figure 1: Percentage of children aged 5–14 years exposed to any violent disciplinary method during the previous month, MICS Serbia 2005, 2010, 2014 Figure 2: Types of publications included in the literature review 6 Research to Policy and Practice Process Determinants, Factors and Interventions EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Violence against children (VAC) in Serbia has many forms and it occurs in different settings — in the intimate atmosphere of family, in schools, in institutions where children are placed for the purpose of protection, in digital space and the community. Preventing and protecting children from violence has been set as one of the key priorities in national policies for more than a decade. In 2017, a new policy cycle in preventing and protecting children from VAC has been initiated, and this study has the purpose of providing solid evidence for aspects of violence that heretofore have not been in the focus of policies — determinants and factors that drive violence. Evidence provided in this study is based on a specific approach of the UNICEF Office of Research — Inoccenti (Research to Policy and Practice Process [R3P]), which requires a comprehensive review of available knowledge on violence and broad participation of a large number of stakeholders in reviewing policy interventions and formulating recommendations for the next policy cycle.1 A snapshot of violence against children in Serbia Research evidence indicates that violence against children in Serbia is widespread in different forms. It appears as direct, interpersonal, physical, psychological, or sexual violence; as neglect that deprives a child from needs satisfaction and prevents its development; and also in less direct and more complex forms, as structural violence that appears in different forms, such as child marriage, child labour or other types of exploitation, or multifaceted social exclusion. Manifestations of violence also vary according to other features: who the perpetrator is, how severely the child is harmed, what the short- term and long-term consequences are, in which context it occurs and which institutional responses are available for the protection of child. The family, which is supposed to be a safety zone for children, an environment fostering their development, is not so for many children. The exposure of children to violence in the family is widespread, regardless of whether children are direct objects of violence or witnesses of a violent act. Despite the fact that corporal punishment is classified as violence against children (Council of Europe, 2006) and proscribed as it humiliates the child, and leads to bodily harm and serious damage to health, it is still widespread in Serbia, underpinned by certain values and norms. According to these norms, corporal punishment is considered a legitimate and even advisable2 practice in child- rearing. Use of violent disciplining methods (corporal punishment, psychological aggression, severe physical punishment) in families has been on the decline during last decade, but a significant share of children continue to be raised using these methods. Small children (age 1–4 years) are particularly 1 In line with this methodology, the process included several components: (1) review of available literature on VAC, and domestic and international data sets; (2) mapping interventions within the public system and civil society; and (3) consultations with diverse stakeholders engaged with the system of prevention of and protection from VAC, such as experts, researchers, professionals providing services, public servants and policymakers. 2 As evidenced by many traditional sayings often used in everyday practice, such as “Beating comes straight from Heaven”, “Spare the rod and spoil the child”,