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Resolution 1714 (2010) Final version
Children who witness domestic violence
1. Domestic violence is, in a majority
of cases, violence against women conducted by men from their immediate
social environment. Whenever a mother is subjected to violence,
there is a great probability that a child witnesses this violence.
Every single child exposed to violence at home reacts differently,
but witnessing violence against their mother is, in all cases, a
form of psychological abuse which has potentially severe consequences.
2. The Parliamentary Assembly welcomes the adoption of the “Building
a Europe for and with children – 2009-2011 Strategy”, and its three
priority areas: the promotion of children’s access to justice, the
eradication of all forms of violence against children, and the participation
of children and their influence in society. In this framework, the
Assembly supported the drafting of Council of Europe policy guidelines
on integrated national strategies for the protection of children
from violence (adopted on 18 November 2009) and the launching of
the Council of Europe Platform on Children’s Rights (in June 2009).
The Assembly further welcomes the preparation of European guidelines
on child-friendly justice.
3. The Assembly particularly welcomes the ongoing efforts undertaken
within the Ad hoc Committee on Preventing and Combating Violence
against Women and Domestic Violence (CAHVIO) to develop a binding legal
instrument on violence against women and domestic violence (which
disproportionately affects women). This instrument should be the
central legal instrument at Council of Europe level in this area,
including on the issue of children who witness domestic violence.
4. Despite significant achievements made in the field of children’s
rights at all political levels, more specific action is required
with regard to children who witness domestic violence. They are
far too often neglected as victims of the psychological consequences
of such violence, as possible future victims and as elements of
a chain of violence who could help identify potentially violent
situations and avoid new violence in the future.
5. The Assembly therefore calls on national parliaments of Council
of Europe member states to:
5.1. strongly
support Council of Europe activities with regard to children’s rights
in co-operation with the national ministries concerned;
5.2. support the Council of Europe Platform on Childrens’ Rights
as a permanent virtual forum leading the strategic planning, implementation
and evaluation of Council of Europe child-related activities;
5.3. promote awareness of standards contained in the Council
of Europe policy guidelines on national integrated strategies for
the protection of children from violence and support their implementation;
5.4. encourage their respective national ministries represented
at the CAHVIO to support the preparation of a future Council of
Europe convention, which should:
5.4.1. focus on violence
against women, including domestic violence, as already recommended
by the Assembly in its Recommendation
1847 (2008) “Combating violence against women: towards
a Council of Europe convention”;
5.4.2. provide the children concerned with a veritable status
of “secondary victims” in order to consider appropriately the impact
that domestic violence can have on them;
5.4.3. provide for specific gender-mainstreamed measures in order
to deal with the specific consequences of domestic violence for
girls and boys in their lives as children and adults;
5.4.4. include provisions regarding the development of comprehensive
and transversal social services, access to which is guaranteed for
all children, and which ensure that the interests of children are
not neglected in relation to the problems predominantly concerning
the adults involved, notably the mothers;
5.4.5. insist on the importance of forms of education which encourage
children, from the earliest age, to develop a behaviour based on
mutual respect and non-violence, so as to prevent an intergenerational
transmission of domestic violence.
6. The Assembly further invites Council of Europe member states
to:
6.1. commonly search for innovative
approaches and working methods when it comes to dealing with situations
of children who witness domestic violence (best practice comparisons);
6.2. continue to raise awareness on the situation of children
witnessing domestic violence and take the issue into consideration
in the context of national legislation and policies in an interdisciplinary approach
integrating gender mainstreaming, aimed specifically at the protection
of children especially, the punishment of crimes involving domestic
violence or the provision of financial compensation for witnesses
of violence as victims of its psychological consequences;
6.3. include in their legislation the right of children to
an education based on mutual respect and non-violence;
6.4. strengthen the special consideration in legal and administrative
procedures for children having witnessed domestic violence, for
example by:
6.4.1. creating special conditions for hearing
children as witnesses of violence in order to avoid the repetition
of testimony and unwarranted or humiliating questioning, and to
lessen the traumatising effects of legal and institutional proceedings;
6.4.2. providing the children concerned with physical protection
during relevant proceedings and through custody and contact rights
following situations of domestic violence;
6.4.3. providing the children concerned with protection and support,
not only in women’s shelters as it is often the case, but also outside
such institutions;
6.4.4. providing the relevant actors of social and other services
with the knowledge required for dealing with children having witnessed
domestic violence (training of police forces and teachers);
6.4.5. taking into account the best interest of the child who
has witnessed domestic violence when ruling on parental authority
and contact of the author of domestic violence with the child concerned;
6.5. promote the issue of children who witness domestic violence
through integrated approaches, with the aim of avoiding severe psychological
traumas for children, and through educational programmes for families
aimed at preventing the transgenerational transmission of violence,
and thus future situations of domestic violence.