Stephen Gadd
October 6th, 2017

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More awareness needed in Denmark on child abuse, UN says (photo: USAF/Joshua Green)

On Tuesday this week, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) delivered a report setting out suggestions for how children’s rights could better be safeguarded in Denmark.

The CRC consists of 18 independent experts who monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by states who are signatories to it.

The report points out that Denmark still has some way to go when it comes to both violence and the abuse of children, Metroxpress reports.

More information needed …
The UN would like to see more information made available to increase awareness that violence against children is illegal in Denmark and also emphasise the bringing up of children without the use of corporal punishment.

Additionally, the organisation wants to see a comprehensive strategy formulated to combat child abuse.

Kuno Sørensen, a psychologist working for Red Barnet, thinks this is a good idea.

“If we include the milder forms of violence, one in four children say that within the last year they have been on the receiving end of corporal punishment.”

… and more money
Sørensen would like to see money set aside by Parliament from next year’s pool earmarked for improving conditions for vulnerable people in Denmark to be used on children in particular.

“From Red Barnet’s vantage point, we can only emphasise to the government that there is a need for extra resources to strengthen security for children and protect them against violence and abuse.”

Areas of particular concern to CRC are the rights of asylum-seeking children in Denmark, the use of compulsory psychiatry treatment, the abolition of the poverty threshold, and the implementation of the ceiling on benefits payments. Special attention ought to be paid to children in Greenland, the committee also recommends.