A/HRC/22/55 A. Poverty, human development, economic crisis 94. Children are at the heart of the Millennium Declaration and Development Goals. Progress in their achievement contributes to a protective and safe environment for children and is essential for children’s harmonious development; at the same time, violence remains a serious factor which hampers the effective attainment of the goals, especially for the most excluded children, including as a result of poverty, disability, HIV or gender. 95. The relationship between poverty and violence is multifaceted and also strongly interconnected. Humiliation, bullying, stigmatization and exploitation are frequent components of the daily life of children growing up in poverty. Violence and deprivation have a cumulative impact on their development, with high risks of poor health, poor school performance and long-term welfare dependency. 96. Poverty, vulnerability and economic hardship are factors of stress in the community and the home, generating higher incidence of violence, including domestic violence. As families struggle to meet their basic needs, children may be pressed to drop out from school to contribute to household income; girls may be placed at risk of involvement in hazardous economic activities, including domestic service, begging and sexual exploitation, or forced to marry – the risk of getting married before 18 years is three times higher amongst poor girls.10 97. Children growing up in poverty are less likely to access basic social services of quality or benefit from effective preventive initiatives or protection mechanisms. This is a particularly acute problem for children living or working on the street, who often struggle to survive in unhealthy and violent public spaces where crime is rampant and protection hardly available and who are at risk of enduring ill-treatment by the authorities or being criminalized for survival behaviours, including truancy and begging.11 98. Children with disabilities are also at heightened risk of abuse, neglect, stigma and exploitation; in their lives, disability, poverty, poor health care and nutrition and social exclusion often go hand in hand. The incidence of disability is higher amongst children belonging to poorer households, where they lack access to basic social services of quality, thus compromising opportunities for early detection, treatment and recovery and for meaningful participation in social life. As families of children with disabilities face extra medical, housing and transport costs, they miss employment opportunities and face marginalization and aggravated vulnerability to violence. When placed in institutions, where they have limited ability to disclose situations of abuse and seek redress, children’s vulnerability to violence is further exacerbated. 99. Poverty and violence also shape the life of the majority of children affected by HIV and AIDS. The pandemic has stripped away traditional social support networks and is associated with a higher risk of social exclusion, stigma and discrimination, school dropout and limited access to information and treatment, while paving the way to enhanced risks of violence. In turn, rape, intimate partner violence and sexual abuse, as well as harmful practices including child and forced marriage, increase the risk of exposure to HIV infection.12 100. As the current economic downturn confirms, in times of economic crisis the impact of these multiple factors increases. Although initially buffered from the financial crisis, low 10 11 12 UNICEF, “Child protection from violence, exploitation and abuse: a statistical snapshot” (2011), p. 3. OHCHR, Protection and promotion of the rights of children working and/or living on the street (2012), p. 13. UNAIDS, Together we will end AIDS (2012), p. 70. 19