Professor Paulo
Sergio Pinheiro, Independent Expert,
UN Secretary
General Study on Violence Against Children,
PO Box 48, 1211 Geneva
20 CIC, Switzerland
http://www.violencestudy.org/a30
Dear Professor
Pinheiro,
To prepare the UN
Study on Violence Against Children, the Secretary General mandated you to write
the Report describing the situation and recommending solutions.
You mandated Unicef
Canada to gather information about violence against North American
Children. The 49 pages Consultation Document prepared on behalf of
Unicef-Canada spent 7 pages on media violence, including suggestions to protect
children. The use of media violence has been considered by Unicef Canada
as an actual form of violence against children and as members of the civil
society, we want to express our support for this statement.
Unfortunately,
Unicef Canada did not mention various promising practices developed here to
protect children from massive exposure to media violence. We insist for the
inclusion of these practices in the S-G Study. They are described in a
document posted on the Child Rights Information Network’s website (CRIN). http://www.crin.org/violence/search/closeup.asp?infoID=8848
The use of verbal
and physical violence as entertainment by the media is a very cruel form of
child abuse considering the fact that psychological science is used along with
enormous amount of financial resources. Despite the fact that it attracts a
huge number of children, despite the fact that it is very lucrative form of
marketing, well over a thousand studies have revealed that exposure to media
violence desensitizes children to real
violence around them. Media violence is also linked with the rise of youth
violent crime rate, with the increasing number of children with troubled
behaviours, with the rise of school bullying in North America and Europe.
We dearly hope, Mr.
Professor, that your status as an Independent Expert will allow you to include
media violence in the S-G Study. Successful efforts made by the civil society
here will help parents and child advocates everywhere to find inspiration in
these underreported promising practices.
Please
accept, Dear Professor Pinheiro, the expression of our gratitude for
helping children find protection against all forms of violence and abuse.
Date, name and address
(postal and email) of organization, its Secretary, or individual endorsing the
letter.
Please also send copy to
1) UN High-Commissioner of Human Rights,
UNOG-OHCHR, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, InfoDesk@ohchr.org
2) World Health Organization, Avenue Appia 20,
1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, info@who.int
3) Veronica Yates, Child Rights Information
Network (CRIN), c/o Save the Children, 1, St John's Lane, London EC1M 4AR, UK, vyates@crin.org
4) Unicef-Canada,
Canada Square, 2200 Yonge Street, Suite 1100, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada, M4S 2C6, secretary@unicef.ca
5) Unicef Quebec,
1100, de la Gauchetière West, Suite C-21, Montréal, QC H3B 2S2, QC.secretaire@unicef.ca
6) PEACE, Madame
Monique Ouellette, Secretaire-tresoriere,
7) EDUPAX, Violence
Prevention, 493 Ste-Julie, Trois-Rivieres, Qc, Canada, NProulx@edupax.org