Millions of Children worldwide are hit, kicked, pushed, beaten, humiliated and threatened at home. In the average Danish eighth-grade class, one in five pupils has been a victim of parental violence.

The 2013 charity stamp supports Save the Children, which fights for children’s right to care, security and protection. The motif, which features the silhouette of a girl, is made up of crisscrossing words in different colours. If you study it under a magnifying glass, you will see that the words tell a child’s story.

Profits from the stamp will support Save the Children’s work to combat violence against children. Since 1986, the surcharge on charity stamps has been DKK 0.50. In order to raise even more money for charity, Post Danmark has decided to raise the surcharge per stamp to DKK 1.00.

Save the Children’s Work
Save the Children, founded in 1945, is the world’s largest independant children’s rights organisation, and operates in 120 countries. Its work is based on the UN Children’s Convention, which aims to ensure that all children have rights on an equal footing with adults.

The core of Save the Children’s work consits of education and protection. The organisation provides emergency aid in response to disasters and conflicts, and works with children to fight child labour, poverty, bullying, violence and sexual abuse.

Mimi Jakobsen has been Secretary General of Save the Children fro 12 years, ably supported by approx. 1,000 volunteers in 61 local associations across the country, and more than 17,000 members, donors and sponsors.

Stop Violence Against Children!
Being beaten is one of the worst things that can happen to a child. Children who are exposed to violence or who witness violence in the home can be left physically and pschologically scarred for life. It is every adult’s responsibility to stop violence against children, protect them and guarantee their right to grow up in a healthy and safe environment. Everybody has a duty to react, no matter ow difficult it might be.

Violence is taboo and can be difficult to talk about. But nobody should fail to act if a child is being abused. “Save the Children does not turn a blind eye, but gets actively involved in stopping violence”, Jakobsen explains. “We also do everything in our power to make a noise when children are exposed to violence. In partiular, we must hold decision-makers responsible for ensuring that something is done about the problem.”

In addition to advising parents on how to interact with their children and bring them up without using violence, Save the Children provides information to teachers and educators on better ways of helping vulnerable children and their families if they suspect that a child is being physically abused.

Children’s rights at school
It’s vital that children know their rights so that they are better able to speak up and seek help. Throughout 2012, Save the Children campaigned to make children’s rights a fixed term on the school curriculum in Denmark. Fewer than one in ten children knows their rights under the UN convention. “If children know their rights, they also know when they are not being respected,” says Jakobsen. “It makes them better able to set their own limits and seek help, which ultimately makes them more resilient.”

In other countries, Save the Children has taken the initiative to set up children’s rights clubs, where they learn that they have the right to go to school, and that they have the right to say no to violence. Afterwards, the kids go home to their parents and explain to them what children’s rights are.

Source: WOPA

published August 3rd, 2013