Religion & Human Rights: In Celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

December 16, 2016

Members of the Interfaith NGOs gathered to discuss the role the religions in upholding human dignity.

Ms.  Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children (SRSG) | High Level Global Independent Advocate presented:

“Every day is an opportunity to make a difference and make the world better. Most of the time the same child is affected by multiple forms of violence and it affects the way they view others and their relationships with others.

There is an interfaith declaration which recognizes the sanctity of all children and the role religion can play on the development of the child; tension and conflict can be dealt with through a model of respect and mutual understanding. The declaration reminds us that there is no religious script that says violence against children is acceptable. In Islam, nothing apparent may award his or her child better than a good upbringing and violence is not a part of that.

We need to encourage religious communities to cooperate among themselves. Three things they can do:

• build capacity for all churches to promote the exploitation of children
• promote child friendly churches
• churches can consult with children

This problem is global and knows no borders. The most recent study was issued in the Philippines. The survey was conducted among young people. The majority of violence happens in the home. We see that repeated over and over again throughout the world. Because it happens in the privacy of the home and something seen as disciplining children, it isn’t seen as a large problem. The large majority of families use non-violent disciplinary practices. The totality of families surveyed say they don’t want to use corporeal punishment, but don’t know what to use instead as an alternative.”

Report written by Erik Larson.