A/HRC/25/47 Child, 2014 provides a timely occasion to consolidate this process. The Special Representative will continue to pursue this core priority. IV. Enhancing awareness and consolidating knowledge to strengthen children’s protection from violence — promoting restorative justice for children 48. To advance progress in the follow-up to the Study and identify positive experiences and strategic recommendations to assist States in their efforts to prevent and address violence against children, the Special Representative has placed a special emphasis on the organization of expert consultations and the publication of thematic studies on priority areas of concern. 49. Protecting children affected by gang and community violence and the opportunities and risks associated with the use of information and communication technologies are two important topics the Special Representative will pursue in 2014.15 50. Preventing and eliminating violence against children in the justice system has been another area of concern at the centre of the Special Representative’s agenda. For this reason, in 2012, she joined the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in the development of a joint report on the prevention of and responses to violence against children within the juvenile justice system (A/HRC/21/25). 51. At the time the report was prepared, more than 1 million children were deprived of their liberty worldwide, most in pretrial detention or for minor offences, and countless children faced violent and degrading treatment throughout the criminal justice process (ibid., paras. 8, 39). Many children are exposed to psychological, physical and sexual violence during arrest and interrogation, or while being held in police custody; they are vulnerable to violence at the hands of staff and adult detainees in detention centres; and they also endure violence as a form of punishment or sentencing. Children also suffer deep trauma when their parents face inhuman sentencing, such as stoning, amputation, capital punishment and life sentencing. 52. To reverse this pattern, it is imperative to provide alternatives to detention and custodial sentences, including through restorative justice. With this in mind, in 2013 the Special Representative launched a thematic report on restorative justice for children.16 53. The report was informed by an international expert consultation, held in June 2013 in Indonesia, in cooperation with the Governments of Indonesia and Norway. It examines the potential of restorative justice programmes to facilitate conflict resolution and provide appropriate protection to children involved with the justice system. The sections below highlight the key dimensions of that report. 54. Restorative justice is aimed at rehabilitating and reintegrating a young offender by helping to reconnect him or her with the community. Through a non-adversarial and voluntary process, based on dialogue, negotiation and problem solving, it helps the offender to understand the harm caused to the victim and the community, acknowledge 15 16 Further information can be found in the Special Representative’s annual report to the General Assembly (A/68/274), paras. 54–66. Promoting Restorative Justice for Children. Available from http://srsg.violenceagainstchildren.org/ sites/default/files/publications_final/srsgvac_restorative_justice_for_children_report.pdf. 11