A/HRC/19/64 Declare that: 1. Although we live in the same region, there is great inequality of opportunity and different forms of violence against children and adolescents in every country. Every State has different levels and forms in terms of compliance with the laws and rights of children and adolescents. 2. In some countries violence is permitted as a form of discipline, while in others any form of violence is punishable by law. 3. Structural violence is the effect of an unjust global capitalist system that is responsible for the impoverishment of most of the peoples of our countries. For us, structural violence means the contamination of the environment and of people by major agro-business proprietors. This contamination affects the health and lives of children and adolescents and their families (peasants and indigenous people) who are forced to leave their communities and migrate to the cities. There is little likelihood of this form of expression of violence being denounced, since instead of helping, the protocols in place obstruct such procedures; and in themselves they display many social differences. This situation creates exclusion and inequality in access to basic rights; poverty; and greater likelihood of exploitation of children, adolescents and their families. 4. For many years the culture, customs, territories and ways of life of the indigenous peoples of the continent have been subjugated, and we believe that this is a form of cultural, physical and symbolic violence against the children and adolescents of the indigenous peoples. 5. In most cases the laws and actions of States facilitate the violation of our rights in general. For example, in some countries they are trying to lower the age of criminal responsibility, while in others, the police and institutions are agents of re-victimization of child and adolescent victims of ill-treatment, exploitation, sexual abuse and other crimes. 6. There are many laws in the region, but they are not being complied with, and there are few institutions responsible for enforcing their compliance. 7. We also know that institutional bureaucracy is an obstacle to the immediate and quality attention to situations of violence against children and adolescents. 8. In most countries there are no specialized institutions like ministries of childhood and adolescence. 9. There are difficulties in the birth registration and documentation of people due to inefficiency and lack of access to the centres of registration in communities into which children and adolescents are born. 10. The centralization of services for children and adolescents hinders compliance with our rights. 11. The lack of dissemination of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is a form of violence present in all Latin American countries. Even so, children and adolescents have come together to make known, evaluate, propose and put into practice their rights. 12. The mass media of our countries overwhelmingly promote a negative image of children and adolescents, distorting information, publishing only what sells, and failing to educate. The mass media create negative stereotypes that re-victimize us, making us vulnerable to situations of violence. 34