Child protection
Keeping children safe from violence, exploitation and abuse
What we do | Data | Reports | Explainers | News
Children experience insidious forms of violence and exploitation in every part of the world. Torn from their families and homes due to conflict, disaster and trafficking. Forced into fields, mines and streets to labour under dangerous conditions.
Recruited by armed groups. Subjected to gender-based violence.
UNICEF works day in, day out, to keep children safe from abuse and provide care to those who have suffered.
What we do
Violence against children happens in the places they should be most protected – their homes, schools and communities – and at the hands of people they trust. We work in over 150 countries to strengthen the safety nets that keep children from falling into harm's way, especially when an emergency strikes.
UNICEF partners with governments and community advocates to connect the most vulnerable children to various forms of protection – from vital social services and frontline support, to fair justice systems. Explore our work across these key areas:
Programme overview
Millions of children are subjected to child labour worldwide, with some forced into hazardous work through trafficking. Children may be driven into work for various reasons. Most often, child labour occurs when families face financial challenges or uncertainty – whether due to poverty, sudden illness of a caregiver, or job loss of a family member. The consequences are staggering.
An estimated 230 million girls and women worldwide have undergone some form of female genital mutilation (FGM) – many before the age of 15. Despite being internationally recognized as a human rights violation, FGM persists for various reasons. No matter where or how it is performed, FGM causes extreme physical and psychological harm.
Child marriage refers to any formal marriage or informal union between a child under the age of 18 and an adult or another child. Despite a steady decline in this harmful practice over the past decade, child marriage remains widespread, with approximately one in five girls married in childhood across the globe. Child marriage is often the result of entrenched gender inequality, making girls disproportionately affected by the practice. Girls who marry before 18 are more likely to experience domestic violence and less likely to remain in school, leading to worse economic and health outcomes than their unmarried peers.
Violence against children takes many forms. It can be physical, emotional or sexual. It happens in every country and any setting. And for many girls and boys, violence comes at the hands of the people entrusted to protect them. Children who have been severely abused suffer lifelong consequences. Yet many types of interpersonal violence remain hidden from public view.
Gender-based violence is the most pervasive yet least visible human rights violation in the world. It includes physical, sexual, mental or economic harm inflicted on a person because of socially ascribed power imbalances between males and females. It also includes the threat of violence, coercion and deprivation of liberty, whether in public or private. In emergency settings, the risk of gender-based violence soars.
Explosive weapons kill and injure thousands of civilians each year, during and after armed conflict. Children account for roughly half of the casualties from explosive ordnance. Child survivors endure staggering physical injury and psychological trauma. But explosive weapons also inflict severe harm on children indirectly: Especially in populated areas, explosives destroy vital infrastructure – like water pipelines, sanitation facilities, hospitals and schools – cutting children off from essential services.
Thousands of children are recruited and used in armed conflicts across the world. Often referred to as “child soldiers,” these boys and girls suffer extensive forms of exploitation and abuse that are not fully captured by that term. Warring parties use children not only as fighters, but as scouts, cooks, porters, guards, messengers and more.
Millions of children are on the move – driven from their homes by conflict, poverty or climate change. Others leave, alone or with family members, in hopes of finding a better life. Far too many encounter danger, detention and discrimination along the way.
In the chaos of conflict, natural disaster and other crises, thousands of children get separated from their parents and caregivers. Kids may be torn from their loved ones for days, months – even years. Those who receive early support in tracing their relatives are more likely to be reunified faster.
Children suffer indescribable stress when split from family. Separation undermines their mental health, physical health and development, and it can leave them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
Without knowing whom to trust, where to turn for help, or when they may be reunited, children endure extreme fear and confusion. Those who face long-term separation may also miss out on education and proper medical care, essential to help them cope with distress.
Our response
UNICEF works around the world to prevent family separation by helping communities identify vulnerable children before crisis strikes and planning for reunification if the worst happens.
We work with partners to safely reunite separated children with their families as quickly as possible, recognizing that the longer a separation lasts, the greater a child’s risk of exposure to abuse and exploitation.
In situations of emergency, UNICEF and other trained humanitarian partners establish locations where lost children can be brought, identified and provided immediate care and safety.
Once a child is safe, we help ensure that information about her circumstances and family is immediately gathered and documented, in order to trace family links and support the reunification process. While the family tracing process is underway, children may be living with extended family or other appropriate guardians. Occasionally, centre-based care is necessary at the height of an emergency.
Throughout this process, UNICEF and partners provide case management, psychosocial support and other services necessary to meet the needs of unaccompanied children.
Over 2 million children are estimated to live in residential care worldwide. But the majority of these children are not orphans and have at least one living parent or close relative. Children end up in alternative care for various reasons, not always for their own protection. The long-term harm following family separation and unsuitable alternative care is well documented.
Children suffer unthinkable distress when crisis strikes. In the outbreak of armed conflict, natural disaster and other humanitarian emergencies, they may be driven from home, some torn from families along the way. Vital services like clean water, healthcare and education stall. And for children trapped in conflict, the threat of violence, severe injury and recruitment into armed groups looms daily.
Through it all, children often lack access to mental health and psychosocial support, with consequences that can last long after the emergency subsides.
Anxiety, depression and other stress-related problems can follow children into adulthood. Violence, especially, takes a significant toll on emotional health, physical health and social development. If exposed in early childhood, the experience can even hamper a child's brain development. For adolescents, severe distress and exposure to traumatic events can lead to alcohol and drug abuse, low self-esteem, health issues, poor school performance, self-harm and suicide.
Failure to address mental health and psychosocial issues stalls a child’s development and bars her from opportunities to thrive. All too often, children with mental health conditions suffer stigma and discrimination. They may be excluded from their communities or exposed to further violence.
Crisis situations also put parents and caregivers under mental duress that can prevent them from providing the stability and nurturing care their children need.
Our response
UNICEF works around the world to strengthen the resilience of children and their families, and to help them cope with adversity during and after a crisis. We adapt our services to local contexts, listening to what communities identify as their priorities and creating nurturing environments that support children's mental and psychosocial well-being.
Children and adolescents
Alongside partners, we set up safe spaces that provide regular, structured activities to help children develop skills to deal with crisis, solve problems, regulate their emotions, and form and maintain relationships. This happens through peer-to-peer groups, recreational activities, sports, and life-skills and vocational training.
Our work also addresses harmful behaviours and norms to reduce bullying, abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence. When needed, we provide direct individual support or refer children to further specialized care.
Caregivers and families
UNICEF helps parents and caregivers develop skills to support children in distress. We raise awareness of the distress reactions that children may have during humanitarian crises, promote knowledge on positive parenting, and train caregivers to care for children with mental health conditions. We also strengthen community networks, facilitating the inclusion of vulnerable families in communal activities.
To ensure caregivers themselves are cared for, we provide peer support opportunities, education programmes and psychological first aid to parents, teachers and caregivers. As needed, we offer specialized care to parents and caregivers with mental health issues.
Communities and partners
UNICEF works alongside community organizations to develop their capacity to support the mental health and psychosocial needs of children and their families. We help strengthen health, education, social services and other sectors to provide holistic care and guide families to the information and resources they need to heal.
Children are spending more time in the digital world than ever before, often without realizing it. Unseen but powerful, artificial intelligence (AI) systems shape children’s digital interactions and choices, suggesting videos to watch, articles to read, music to play and even people to connect with. But the rise of AI-driven technology brings serious risks, especially as changes in digital platforms outpace the safeguards and regulations needed to protect young users.
Nearly a quarter of the world’s children are living off the record: They have no legal proof of who they are, where they come from, or when they were born, simply because their births were never registered. Without a birth certificate, children are invisible to their governments. They miss out on essential public services that help secure their most fundamental rights – like healthcare and schooling – and on social safety nets meant to reduce a child’s risk of exploitation and abuse.
Across the world, hundreds of thousands of children come into conflict with the law each year, in their own country or another. Children may be detained for various reasons. Many have committed petty crimes or minor offences such as truancy, begging or alcohol use. It’s not uncommon that children who engage in criminal behaviour have been coerced or exploited by adults. And in some cases, it's victims themselves who are taken into custody as offenders.
Children who have endured sexual exploitation, trafficking or child labour, for example, can end up not only arrested but detained for indefinite periods of time. In some places, children are deprived of their liberty simply for migrating, expressing their political views, or for reasons related to ‘national security’.
Detention conditions in many countries can be severe. Restrictions on movement hinder a child’s development, while inadequate diets may lead to malnutrition. Exposure to unsanitary conditions in densely populated facilities makes children susceptible to infectious diseases like tuberculosis and HIV. Detained children may also experience trauma and mental health issues due to solitary confinement or neglect. And when held with adults, they’re especially vulnerable to violence and abuse.
Children may also be deprived of protection in the courtroom. This is the case not only for those in conflict with the law – who are unlikely to know their rights and often lack the means to secure a lawyer – but also for child victims of or witnesses to a crime.
All children remain dependent on the adults around them to keep them safe through administrative proceedings. But police, prosecutors and judges seldom have specialized training to support children and uphold their rights. For children who enter the justice system as victims or witnesses to a crime, specific protections are needed to prevent further trauma and endangerment.
Of course, some children don’t get a fair shot at justice on either side of the law. Legal fees, discrimination and security concerns may bar families – especially those from minority and vulnerable groups – from seeking to uphold or defend a child's rights.
Our response
Together with government and community partners, UNICEF works to help every child access a justice system that puts their rights and needs first. We focus on:
Preventing abuse, violence and exploitation
However they come into contact with the law, children are first and foremost children. Their rights, including their right to protection, must be fulfilled before, during and after they encounter the justice system. We support countries to build a comprehensive national child protection system that can prevent and respond to all forms of child neglect, violence, abuse and exploitation.
Encouraging child-sensitive investigations and court procedures
Alongside governments, we work in countries to train police, judges, prosecutors and lawyers on child-friendly justice approaches.
Keeping children from formal criminal proceedings
We support governments and civil society organizations to divert children from formal criminal justice proceedings when possible. Instead of being drawn into procedures that harm their physical and mental health, children receive support through social services and community-based programming.
Promoting restorative justice approaches
Where appropriate, we support restorative justice efforts that emphasize not merely punishing an offender but empowering and repairing harm done to a victim. Restorative justice can be community-based and includes measures such as mediation and conferencing.
Advancing alternatives to pre-trial and post-trial detention
We help keep children who are pending trial out of detention by supporting family and community-based options for supervision. If detention prior to the trial is unavoidable, we focus on efforts that limit the time children spend in detention. We also work with partners to advance non-custodial sanctions and other alternatives to post-trial detention.
Providing recovery and reintegration services
We support services that allow children to recover and reintegrate with their families and local communities through personalized reintegration plans, tailored to the needs of each child.
Connecting children with legal services
We facilitate efforts to provide children with specialized legal aid, representation and other services as needed. We also support efforts to build every child’s knowledge of their legal rights.
Social service workers are often the first line of response for children in harm's way.
Working closely with children and families, they identify and manage risks that children may be exposed to at home and elsewhere, especially those related to violence, abuse, exploitation, neglect, discrimination and poverty. Social service workers promote children’s physical and psychological well-being by connecting them with critical social services – like healthcare, education and social protection – and by challenging harmful norms that violate a child’s rights.
One of the most important elements of a well-functioning child protection system is a qualified social service workforce that consists of both government and non-governmental professionals and para-professionals.
But in too many places, the social service workforce is often under-resourced, lacking the financial, and sometimes political, support to protect children and their families. In the absence of well-equipped social service workers, the laws, policies and programmes that governments establish to protect children risk being undermined.
Our response
UNICEF works closely with governments and other partners to develop and support the social service workforce.
We assist governments with policy, legislation, regulatory frameworks and human resources that strengthen the workforce, while aligning diverse sectors to leverage local knowledge and help train social service workers.
Our efforts put individuals at the centre, focusing on recruiting, training and retaining workers; investing in quality management; and promoting career development.
In areas affected by conflict, natural disasters and other emergencies, people trust aid workers to assist and protect them. The vast majority do so with professionalism and integrity. But some aid workers abuse their position of power through the sexual exploitation and abuse of those who depend on them. Learn how UNICEF designs and delivers programmes to prevent and respond to exploitation and abuse.
Children pay the highest price of humanitarian crisis. Armed conflict, natural disasters and other emergencies expose millions of girls and boys to unthinkable forms of violence. Through it all, survivors lose critical health, education and psychosocial services, with consequences that can last a lifetime.