Progress to end violence against children falls short

The Out of The Shadows Index

Global leaders gathered at United Nations’ High Level Political Forum in New York to discuss their countries’ progress towards meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The focus of this forum was empowerment, inclusiveness and equality. For the first time ending violence against children was on the agenda.

If current data is anything to go by progress towards eliminating violence against children has been slow. Although preventing and eradicating violence against children is rightly an ethically prominent issue, less than 50 countries have reported on the prevalence of sexual violence against children in their nation.

The EIU public policy team have been working on the Out of the Shadows index (OOSI). In response to a low availability of country data, our index benchmarks stakeholder response to sexual violence against children globally. The report proves that we have a long way to go. Globally, we must provide more accurate data pertaining to this issue. More importantly, we have a long way to go to eliminate and prevent violence against children.

The tool is the first of its kind; its main aim is to provide a tangible measure of progress towards meeting SDG 16.2 – ending all violence against children by 2030. The index is designed to drive change by creating accountability for governments, civil society and the private sector by monitoring and measuring progress towards meeting this highly important goal.

EIU consultant, Katherine Stewart (pictured above) worked on and discussed the index with the President of Childhood Brasil, Roberta Rivellino. Next month, Katherine will be discussing the future of the Out of the Shadows Index alongside Elizabeth Dartnall, the executive director of the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI), South Africa at the SVRI Forum 2019.