A/HRC/19/64 Children’s voices Children and adolescents have been crucial actors in policy development. As highlighted by the consultation they held in April 2011, in Paraguay, ―If we are not capable to find responses to our difficult problems, it is hard to expect that others can do it for us! It is important to participate in consultations and share our views about what happens to the protection of children, adolescents and young people, especially at the community level‖. Strengthening children’s legal protection from all forms of violence B. 16. Legislation prohibiting all forms of violence is a key component of national strategies on violence against children, and an area where progress is gaining momentum. To learn from and further advance legal reform, the Special Representative organized, in July 2011 in Geneva, an expert consultation on law reform with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the NGO Advisory Council on Violence against Children, and she will issue a thematic report on this topic in the coming months. The conclusions and recommendations of the consultation are summarized below. 17. When the Study was finalized, 16 countries had legislation prohibiting physical violence in all settings. Currently, more than 30 have a comprehensive legal ban on violence against children, at times in the Constitution itself. In addition, many countries have adopted legislation on specific forms of violence against children, including sexual abuse and exploitation, corporal punishment, bullying, trafficking and harmful traditional practices. 18. In some countries, courts have been instrumental in establishing the right of the child to respect for his or her physical integrity and to freedom from violence, including within the home. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh recently declared ―we have no hesitation to hold that in the light of the Convention corporal punishment upon the children must be prohibited in all settings, including schools, homes and work places‖.4 19. During the last two years, the goal of a comprehensive legal ban on all forms of violence has been embraced by the Council of Europe, the League of Arab States, the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the South Asia Initiative to End Violence against Children (SAIEVAC). The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights also actively support full prohibition of violence against children, as do Ombuds for children, parliamentarians, religious leaders and countless NGOs and professional groups around the world. 20. Despite these important developments, vigorous efforts are still required. Efforts to introduce an explicit comprehensive legal ban need to be scaled up, as only around 5 per cent of the world‘s child population benefit from legal protection from all forms of violence. Moreover, measures to narrow the gap between law and practice need to be actively pursued. Enforcement of legislation remains a challenge, especially where it prohibits practices that are deeply rooted in society. As highlighted by the expert 4 6 Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust and others vs Bangladesh and others [Corporal Punishment Case], Writ Petition No. 5684 of 2010, Judgment of 13 January 2011, p.31, available at www.blast.org.bd/judgements.