The six targets include:

1. End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
2. Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.
3. Eliminate all harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation,
4. Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work.
5. Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision making.
6. Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights.

SDG 16 focuses on promoting the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensuring equal access to justice for all. SDG 16.2 specifically calls for ending abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed inequalities and discrimination, before the pandemic, violence against children was widespread and affected children regardless of wealth or social status.

In 77 mostly low- and middle-income countries and territories with available data from 2012 to 2020, 8 in 10 children, ranging from 1 to 14 years of age, had been subjected to some form of psychological aggression or physical punishment at home in the previous month. Additionally, in 2018, 5 in 10 victims of human trafficking detected globally were women and 2 in 10 were girls.

In order to achieve SDG 16, it is critical that we end all forms of violence against children, including sexual violence.

Ending violence against children and adolescents is essential to upholding children and adolescents’ rights and fulfilling the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Not only is it an ethical imperative, but it is also a smart investment.

According to the United Nations ​​Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children, violence against children weakens the foundations of social progress and sustainable development, as it diverts billions of dollars from social spending, slows economic development and erodes nations’ human and social capital.

Preventing and responding to violence against children will generate benefits for decades to come.

Human Rights Day provides us with an opportunity to reflect on how we can achieve a better, safer and more sustainable future for all. As we work towards this goal, we must not forget that upholding the rights of children and adolescents is essential, and cannot be done without ending violence against children and adolescents.

While it’s clear that we need more data and evidence to both understand the prevalence and nature of violence against children across geographies and settings, we also have ample data and evidence to act now to build stronger child protection systems and challenge and change the social norms that drive and condone violence.

To learn about global progress towards the SDGs aimed at ending violence against children, explore the Global status report on preventing violence against children 2020, jointly published by TfG partners WHO, UNICEF, UNESCO, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Violence Against Children and the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children.