CRC/C/15/Add.191
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(c)
Improve social assistance and support to families through advice and
education so as to promote positive child-parent relationships;
(d)
Provide adequate training to social workers;
(e)
Strengthen preventive measures, such as supporting the role of families and
communities, in order to help eliminate the social conditions leading to such problems as
delinquency, crime and drug addiction;
(f)
Consider increasing financial support for families with children living in
poverty under the Poverty Reduction Strategy 2001 at the national, regional and local
levels.
Corporal punishment
41.
The Committee welcomes the new Protection from Domestic Violence Act 2001, but
remains concerned that it has not yet been implemented.
42.
The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a)
Conduct a study to assess the nature and extent of ill-treatment, abuse and
neglect of children in the home, and design policies and programmes to address them;
(b)
Establish effective procedures and mechanisms to receive, monitor and
investigate complaints, including by intervening where necessary, and investigate and
prosecute instances of ill-treatment and all forms of domestic violence, including corporal
punishment, ensuring that the abused child is not victimized in legal proceedings and that
his/her privacy is protected;
(c)
Train teachers, law enforcement officials, care workers, judges and health
professionals in the identification, reporting and management of all kinds of violence
against children;
(d)
Take into consideration the recommendations of the Committee adopted at
its days of general discussion on violence against children (CRC/C/100, para. 688 and
CRC/C/111, paras. 701-745);
(e)
Carry out public education campaigns about the negative consequences of
ill-treatment of children and promote positive, non-violent forms of discipline as an
alternative to corporal punishment.
Recovery of maintenance
43.
The Committee is concerned that State assistance to single parents is inadequate and that
the system for recovering child maintenance is inefficient and allows for delays in payments,
sometimes lasting several years.