Save the Children's Resource Centre

Child Protection

Children have an absolute right to be safe. Yet girls and boys in every country, in every culture and at every social level face forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence. These violations include sexual exploitation and abuse, trafficking, physical and humiliating punishment, harmful traditional practices (including early marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting) and recruitment into armed forces and groups.

Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), other human rights conventions, treaties, and national laws, governments have a legal obligation to protect children. But all adults share a responsibility to do so. Parents are primarily responsible for the upbringing and development of their children and, together with their family and community, have a key role to play in protecting them.

In May 2009, Save the Children launched the Global Child Protection Initiative to strengthen children’s right to be protected from abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence.

Photo: Hedinn Halldorsson/Save the Children

Recommended
Fact Sheet- Child Protection

A fact sheet looking at several aspects of child protection and the needs and priorities of vulnerable children. Children in every country, every culture and at every social level face various forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence. The abuse

Publication year: 2010 Publisher(s): Save the Children International
Recommended
Fact Sheet- Child Protection in Emergencies

Save the Children’s Child Protection Initiative (CPI) fact sheet about "Child Protection in Emergencies" looks at the the main protection dangers that children face in an emergency and how to address them. During emergencies, children run many risks. They

Publication year: 2010 Publisher(s): Save the Children International
Recommended
Fact sheet- Children without appropriate care

A Save the Children fact sheet looking at key aspects of child protection with special focus on the sub-theme "children without appropriate care", which encompasses children who are not receiving suitable, continuous and quality care, nurture and guidance

Publication year: 2010 Publisher(s): Save the Children International
Recommended
Save the Children's Child Protection Video

The Child Protection Initiative has produced an animated video that communicates Save the Children's child protection work and the impact on children's lives as seen by children. "Violence against children is no longer tolerated" is the new Global Breakth

Publication year: 2015 Publisher(s): Save the Children
Save the Children Psychological First Aid Training Manual for Child Practitioners

The Psychological First Aid Training Manual for Child Practitioners (PFA) was developed by Save the Children Denmark for the Child Protection Initiative, to facilitate training in psychological first aid with a focus on children. It is aimed at developing

Publication year: 2013 Publisher(s): Save the Children Denmark Author(s): Dybdal, Anne-Sophie | Melin, Mie | Terlonge, Pernille
A Practice Handbook: For family tracing and reunification in emergencies

Since the onset of the current phase of the South Sudan conflict in December 2013, nearly 3 million people have been displaced. Two million people have fled to neighbouring countries, and another 1.9 million others remain internally displaced. The ongoing

Publication year: 2017 Publisher(s): Save the Children International
Ending Violence in Childhood: Global Report 2017

This report makes a case for ending the wide-ranging violence against children occurring across the world. It is a publication from an independent global learning initiative, Know Violence in Childhood. The project, like the Violence Against Children Stud

Publication year: 2017 Publisher(s): Know Violence in Childhood
Prohibiting all Corporal Punishment of Children: Answers to frequently asked questions

This is one of three booklets produced by the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment with support from Save the Children Sweden. These booklets should give parents and carers, government officials, education professionals and others the confiden

Publication year: 2017 Publisher(s): Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children
Prohibiting Corporal Punishment in Schools: Answers to frequently asked questions

This is one of three booklets produced by the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment with support from Save the Children Sweden. These booklets should give parents and carers, government officials, education professionals and others the confiden

Publication year: 2017 Publisher(s): Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children
PFA One Day Programme Manual

Published 2017, the PFA one day programme manual is a condensed psychological first aid training based on the original two-day Psychological First Aid Training for Child Practitioners. It builds on adaptations of this manual in Japan, Denmark, Germany and

Publication year: 2017 Publisher(s): Save the Children Denmark Author(s): Øllgaard, Rosa Marie
Responding to Children and Adolescents Who Have Been Sexually Abused: WHO clinical guidelines

A study from 2011 estimates that 18% of girls and 8% of boys worldwide have experienced sexual abuse. This constitutes a major public health problem. Health providers, in many cases, are the first line of response for victims of sexual violence. It is cru

Publication year: 2017 Publisher(s): WHO, World Health Organization Author(s): Amin, Avni | Reijnders, Megin | Carai, Susanne | Garcia-Moreno, Claudia
Stop Hitting! Banning all Corporal Punishment of Children: Questions and answers for children and young people

This is one of three booklets produced by the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment with support from Save the Children Sweden. These booklets should give parents and carers, government officials, education professionals and others the confiden

Publication year: 2017 Publisher(s): Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children