Prevention of Violence against Children

The issue faced

Children’s rights in Iran are regulated by a blend of sharia law, national legislation, and international legal instruments, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child. UNICEF monitors policy developments with the goal of strengthening safeguards against violence, which include emotional, physical, sexual violence and neglect, as well as other emerging forms of harm and abuse, which may occur in the home, the local community, at school, or online. Some forms of abuse, such as corporal punishment, are socially accepted and embedded practices.

Violence against children (VAC) has been proven to impair the mental and physical health of the child, affect their academic performance, and alter the way in which they interact with society. Children with disabilities, children in street situations, and children in alternative care are at critical risk in this regard.

National legislation condones disciplining of children by their parents and legal guardians. However, “they must not abuse this right by disciplining their children beyond the limits of correction” (Article 1179, Iran Civil Code). Use of any form of corporal punishment is banned in Iranian schools as per article 81 of the Executive Regulations of Schools (2021). Challenges which hamper prevention, response, and reporting on VAC in Iran include data scarcity, insufficient coordination and referral mechanisms, inadequate prevention services and community involvement, and the prevalence of traditional social norms and stigma related to such violence, condoning its use, and discouraging constructive discourse on its presence within society.

The actions taken

UNICEF is supporting the Government of Iran to strengthen national capacity on VAC prevention, early detection, and response, through a holistic approach encompassing health, legal, social and behavioural aspects. UNICEF support in this area includes:

Strengthening the capacity of the health and social service workforce to provide quality services for effective prevention, early detection, and response, including family/child support services, parenting skills training and counselling.
Boosting community engagement and promoting healthy norms and values, including through targeting emerging digital communities.
Enhancing the capacity of relevant stakeholders on implementation of the Law on Protection of Children and Adolescents and its executive regulations.

The partners engaged

UNICEF partners involved in implementation of the programme in this focus area include the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, the Ministry of Justice, and the State Welfare Organization.

The impact sought

UNICEF aims to support the children of Iran through the actions outlined by successfully strengthening community engagement in the prevention of child abuse (e.g. tackling cultural norms and stigma around violence in homes, schools, and other settings); increasing children’s awareness concerning child abuse, particularly online abuse and exploitation (and equipping them to help to protect themselves); and enhancing the quality and accessibility of services for families at risk of violence. In this way, advances are made towards forging a society where no children are forced to suffer any form of violence.

Monitoring and Accountability

In adherence to principles of accountability, UNICEF enriches its programme designs and adaptations through systematic assessment and monitoring of the child’s rights deprivations, operating environment, partnerships and progress towards planned results. The implementation of Harmonised Approach to Cash Transfers (HACT) ensures both financial and programmatic compliance through a combination of micro and macro assessments, spot checks, audits and programmatic visits. Leveraging sophisticated and integrated enterprise platforms and tools, UNICEF maintains a consistent monitoring of its programme implementation assessing quality and coverage, identifying risks and challenges, highlighting best practices and lessons learned, fostering stakeholder participation and engagement and conducting end user monitoring of supplies. Additionally, UNICEF remains committed to its costed evaluation plan which includes external evaluations of its projects, partnerships, and/or strategies primarily aiming to enhance relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability of its programmes.