Most Yemeni children face violence, says report [Archives:2007/1064/Local News]
Moneer Al-Omari
SANA'A, July 1 ) Most Yemeni children are exposed to different shapes of violence whether in schools, homes, or government centers, according to a recently published study which attributes such violations to poverty and poor education as well as illiteracy of parents.
The field study, conducted in main Yemeni cities and some rural areas by the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Babyhood in collaboration with World Health Organization, UNICEF, and Save the Children Sweden, confirmed the existence of violence against children, stressing such violence is linked to the nature of the Yemeni society as well as its bad living situation.
According to the study, violence, which is both direct and indirect, is embodied in different ways of punishment practiced widely by Yemeni parents. Therefore, it leaves a bad effect on Children. Furthermore, the study pinpointed that children are subjected to mistreatment, insults, beating, and sexual harassment.
586 children of both sexes were the population of the study, together with 397 parents in the Capital, Sana'a, and Al-Hodeidah governorates.
Most subjects felt frustration over punishment means adopted by their parents and very few hinted their parents resort to modern education techniques to explain their children's mistakes and point them out.
Concluding the study, the Supreme Council for Motherhood and babyhood demanded the existence of mechanisms that ensure the protection of children against violence, mistreatment, and all sorts of physical, psychological, and sexual abuses.
It also stressed the importance of spreading awareness among parents through mass media on how to treat their children and warn them against the risks of using violent and harsh means of punishment against their children.
Moreover, the council called for enacting school bylaws that regulate the treatment of children in schools, hinting that the existing education measures should be revised in a way that help develop the children's rights.
A regional conference on the protection of children against violence was held on June 18-20 in Sana'a and it sought to bring out a healthy means for dealing with children. It also discussed, through different working papers submitted to the conference, the causes behind the violence directed to children.
The violence against children in Yemen was mainly attributed to economic factors including the increased number of families below poverty line and the growing rates of unemployment as well as social factors as to the illiteracy of parents, their age and improper relations between fathers and mothers. Psychological factors are also considered.
Many participants assured that most means of education adopted by Yemeni children are improper and are part of violence against children, noting the child's daily life is not free from insults, threats, etc which help create fear within him.
They also noted mistreatment and beating will leave a bad effect and create future complexes within them, adding such treatment will affect his/her performance in the future.
In their recommendations, the participants stressed the importance of enacting the partnership with religious institutions to defend children against violence, calling for the establishment of a national and legal committee to monitor the implementation of the recommendations.
Moreover, the participants called the Arab League to pay more attention to children's issues work on establishing a web to help those countries affected by armed clashes and chaos. They also called for adopting the international treaties relating to children's issues, allocating more funds for the sake of safe and healthy childhood and setting a strategy for defending and protecting Arab children.
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