On 5-6 October 2020, the Council of Europe working group CDENF-GT-VAE on responses to violence against children will hold its second online meeting focused on discussing mandatory reporting mechanisms on violence against children (day 1) and harmful sexual behaviour by children (day 2).
For both topics, exchanges are foreseen with academics and practitioners working in the respective areas to shed light on these specific issues of violence against children. Experts from the Netherlands, Ireland and a WHO representative will support the exploration of reporting mechanisms in different countries; further experts from Iceland and the UK are invited to share their experiences in working with children demonstrating harmful sexual behaviour against other children.
The working group will also discuss what follow-up to be given to the COVID-19 pandemic, in terms of thematic debates to be organised by the Steering Committee for the Rights of the Child (CDENF), and explore some of the new challenges to be addressed in the new Strategy (2022-2027) which is currently being prepared by the Steering Committee.