A/HRC/16/56 50. Where reporting is mandatory, there are significant differences in the scope of the obligation to report. In some jurisdictions, the obligation is binding on all persons.36 Where it applies to professionals who work with children, those most often covered are lawenforcement officers, social workers, teachers, childcare providers, medical doctors and other health-care workers.37Sometimes the obligation extends to other professions, including drug counsellors and probation officers. 51. Various forms of mandatory reporting were addressed by Government contributions to the present report. In most cases, the obligation relates to sexual, physical and psychological violence. 52. However, whether reporting is mandatory or not, its effectiveness depends on the quality of services that are available if the report, on examination, is found to be grounded. Requiring suspected abuse to be reported serves little purpose if the child protection system is weak, or if there is excessive reliance on institutionalization.38 The introduction of mandatory reporting has sometimes led to an increase in the number of reported cases that, following investigation, were not substantiated.39 Legislation that leads to overreporting increases the burden on the child welfare system, reducing its capacity to provide assistance.40 53. It is argued that the stronger the links are between the child protection system and the community, the less need there is for mandatory reporting, because child welfare personnel will become aware of most cases of violence without it. Mandatory reporting may also create an adversarial relationship between families and child protection authorities,41 and discourage families from seeking assistance voluntarily; and it can stigmatize families affected by extreme poverty and unemployment when the scope of mandatory reporting includes neglect.42 These concerns underline the need for mandatory reporting to be adapted to the needs and circumstances of each society. 54. Reporting by professionals who work with young children is especially important; these children are more susceptible to injury and unable to make complaints, and early detection and intervention can help reduce the risk of repeated abuse and long-term health and social consequences.43 55. The authors of the present report consider that some form of mandatory reporting, including the reporting by professionals who work with children, of sexual abuse and acts of violence causing physical injury and psychological violence is appropriate for all societies. (b) Mandatory reporting within specific systems 56. Mandatory reporting often presumes that a professional is in possession of information about violence caused by a third party with whom she or he has no institutional 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 In the United States of America, such laws exist in 18 states (as at April 2010). See www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_policies/statutes/manda.cfm. Of the replies to the UNICEF survey, 8 mention mechanisms that specifically address violence within schools; 10 mention mechanisms that address violence within the child welfare system; and 13 mention mechanisms that address violence within the law enforcement system. WHO, Preventing Child Maltreatment , p. 62. M. Harries et al., “Mandatory reporting of child abuse: evidence and options” (University of Western Australia, 2002), pp. 14-15. WHO, Preventing Child Maltreatment, p. 59. Ibid. p. 62. Harries, “Mandatory reporting”, p. 42. WHO, Preventing Child Maltreatment, p. 51. 13