The Model Strategies were developed to support a comprehensive, system-wide and strategic approach, in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice, to effectively prevent and respond to violence against children. Experience shows that nothing less than a strategic, comprehensive and well thought out approach will succeed in mobilizing the full power and authority of the justice system to eradicate violence against children. Much has been learned, particularly in the 25 years since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), about the most effective strategies to achieve that goal. The Model Strategies bring that knowledge together with a clear understanding of the issues to propose a comprehensive action framework. This booklet introduces the Model Strategies and describes 17 broad strategies that you will immediately relate to the difficult challenges faced by every society and community trying to eliminate violence against children. It focuses specifically on the role of the criminal justice system, in cooperation with other sectors, in preventing and responding to violence against children.

The booklet aims to help you to become familiar with the Model Strategies and to give guidance on how you can make use of them in your daily life to bring significant and lasting improvements to your justice system. The booklet is also meant to help you and the people working with you to address the huge and persistent problem of violence against children in a more strategic and effective manner and identify your own reform and capacity-building agenda. The justice system is definitely not the only system that has responsibilities for protecting children. Its responsibilities however are enormous. Its role is absolutely crucial. Reflecting the reality in the field, a constant theme in the Model Strategies is the need to more effectively mobilize the justice system and ensure that it responds to violence against children as the serious crime that it is. Another theme is the crucial need for cooperation among the justice system and other key sectors such as education, health and child protection. That kind of cooperation is always important, but it is particularly important in designing comprehensive and effective prevention strategies.