Violence against Children in the Context of Climate Change and Environmental Degradation.

• In Event: Bridging Analog and Digital Technologies: Youth Voices in China, the United States, and elsewhere.

Proposal

Recent research and policy initiatives have begun to shed light on the amplifying effects of Extreme Weather Events (EWEs) and Environmental Degradation (ED) on children’s exposure to violence. However, the connections between EWEs, ED, and Violence against Children (VAC) remain under-theorized, poorly understood, and often overlooked in policy and practice. This study identifies, synthesizes, and analyzes the available evidence on the central characteristics and factors influencing the relationship between VAC, EWEs, and ED. Through case studies, we explore the complexity of these relationships and illustrate the critical need for context-specific approaches, particularly within the education sector, alongside further research.

We conducted an extensive scoping review of both academic and grey literature to identify existing research and knowledge gaps. By employing flexible and iteratively developed search terms, we identified instances of direct violence—physical, sexual, and emotional—as well as structural (or ‘slow’) violence rooted in inequitable and unjust systems and institutions. Our multidimensional conceptualization of VAC defines VAC as: “An act of physical, sexual, or emotional force embedded in structural processes and inequities resulting from, or occurring alongside, past and present economic, social, or political conditions, as well as harmful norms and discourses.”

This framework captures both the visible and invisible aspects of violence (c.f. Nixon, 2011). Instead of focusing on one-dimensional causation, our multidimensional approach illuminates the complex relationships between environmental changes and social structures, norms, and institutions (including schools) that influence VAC. This lens also highlights how social, political, and economic structures perpetuate inequities for children, leading to structural (or “slow”) violence that can manifest as direct violence in the context of EWEs and ED. For example, depriving children of their right to education in the context of climate-related EWEs is a form of structural violence that disproportionately affects children in Low- and Lower-Middle-Income Countries (LLMICs) and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds in High-Income Countries (HICs). Additionally, a sudden or gradual lack of access to education due to EWEs increases the risk of children becoming targets of exploitation or engaging in hazardous forms of child labour.

Thematically, we link the relationship between multidimensional VAC and EWEs to gender, climate-induced mobility or immobility, child labour, and health. These themes emerged after an initial screening of the literature and team discussions. Our findings indicate that VAC can intensify during EWEs and ED, but the nature of this relationship is context-specific. The relationship between VAC, EWEs, and ED is rooted in historical injustices, global systems, and structures, disproportionately affecting those living in poverty. Studies reveal that increasing social, economic, and emotional pressures following EWEs elevate children’s risk of exposure to violence, whether in their homes, schools, or relief shelters. This violence may involve peers or hazardous labour that young people are compelled into due to school-drop out and the sudden need for families to rebuild or make ends meet. More knowledge is needed to inform integrated, context-specific, and culturally sensitive plans—including within the education sector—to better protect children from the consequences of EWEs and ED.

We identify the following limitations in current research, with implications for education policy and practice:

• More knowledge is needed to better understand the precise magnitude of the issue and to inform integrated, context-specific, and culturally sensitive plans—especially in education—to protect children from the consequences of climate change and ED.

• Systematic reviews indicate a lack of consistent, generalizable, transnational, and comparable data due to differing methodologies, indicators, timeframes, and quality standards in research. This inconsistency impedes advocacy, policy action, and agenda setting, both within and outside the education sector.

• The literature often revolves around westernized ideals of childhood or children’s well-being, prioritizing individual over communal children’s rights, which can be ill-suited for children in non-western contexts, as highlighted in our section on child labour. This critique, frequently made by Southern scholars, is underrepresented in the literature we reviewed.

• There is a regional bias in available data, with more rigorous data collection in the US or Bangladesh, while evidence from LLMICs is mainly found in grey literature, produced by journalists or non-governmental organizations.

• Most studies we reviewed do not explicitly consider structural violence (such as depriving children of their right to their education).

• Children and young people’s voices remain underrepresented in existing research, partly due to the sensitive nature of VAC research, which involves several methodological and ethical challenges.

• Further research is needed to explore the role that institutions—and their norm-setting practices—play in both preventing and perpetuating structural forms of VAC in the context of EWEs.

Authors:
Datzberger, Simone (UCL) (presenter); Howard-Merrill, Lottie (UCL); Parkes, Jenny (UCL); Iorfa, Steven Kator (University of Portsmouth)

Funder:
UCL (University College London) Grand Challenges.

Author

• Simone Datzberger, IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society