Violence against children takes many different forms (for overviews see Krug et al 2002;
Pinheiro 2006; UNICEF, 2010). Maltreatment of children includes neglect, physical, sexual
and emotional abuse and happens at home, in school, in care institutions, prisons, at work
and in the community. In 1989 the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child set
out legally binding standards for the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural
rights of children. The convention defines a child as persons under the age of 18. It is the
most widely accepted human rights treaty and it has been ratified by all UN member states,
except Somalia, South Sudan and the United States. Two optional protocols were adopted
on 25 May 2000. The First Optional Protocol restricts the involvement of children in
military conflicts, and the Second Optional Protocol prohibits the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography. Both protocols have been ratified by more than 150
states.