Violence against adolescents: prevention must cross the divide between children and women

Abstract

Danielle Engel and colleagues call for an increased focus on adolescents in scaled up programmes for child protection and gender based violence prevention Growing up in a safe and supportive environment is the inherent right of every adolescent and is enshrined in international human rights treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is also essential for their development and wellbeing. The United Nations (UN) H6+ Technical Working Group on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing framework therefore sets out that adolescents need to be physically and psychologically safe and protected from all forms of violence, abuse, and exploitation.1 One billion children experience violence in multiple, often intersecting forms each year (box 1) .6 Gender and age put adolescent girls at a double disadvantage based on intersectional systems of oppression, exclusion, and discrimination.7 Living between childhood and adulthood, their experiences and needs are often overlooked. Interventions, programmes, and policies aimed at tackling violence are generally siloed between protection approaches dealing with violence against children and survivor centred approaches dealing with violence against women. Given the transformational moment embodied in adolescence, to change adolescents’ life course for the better by preventing or limiting their exposure to and experience of violence, tackling the specific needs of adolescents is long overdue. Box 1 ### Key terminologyRETURN TO TEXT