Legislation

The main regulatory references for child protection are:

1. Internationally

Internationally, those circumscribed to the United Nations are present. Here are the Convention on the Rights of the Child, whose Article 19 addresses child maltreatment, and the General Comments of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which aim to connect this framework of International Law with educational, health, legal, and social realities affecting children and adolescents. The most relevant General Comments are:

Additionally, it is important to consider the commitments and goals of the 2030 Agenda in various areas, with a specific focus on goal 16.2: “End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence and torture against children” within Objective 16 of promoting peaceful, just, and inclusive societies. 

Likewise, the Council of Europe has a Steering Committee on the Rights of the Child (CDENF). Established in 2020, it is the intergovernmental body of the Council of Europe responsible for normative activities in the field of children's rights and oversees the implementation of the Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2022-2027).

Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2022-2027) (in English) 
Guide for children and adolescents on the Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2022-2027)

This body also oversees the Committee of Experts on the Prevention of Violence (ENF-VAE), a subordinate body that conducts a review of legislation, policies, and practices to strengthen responses to prevent and address violence against children, including sexual violence and harmful behavior. 

Related to violence against children and adolescents, the Council of Europe has international standards to ensure the protection of the rights of minors, such as:

Summary of the Lanzarote Convention
Summary of the Istanbul Convention
Summary of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings

Also, in the international field, mention the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has the Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and the OSCE Action Plan against Trafficking in Human Beings.

2. At the European Union level

At the European Union level, the "protection of children's rights" is expressed through Article 3 of the Treaty of Lisbon and is a general objective of common policy, both internally and in external relations. And more in relation to violence are:

3. Nationally

Nationally, the Spanish legal framework has incorporated significant advances in defending minors' rights, as well as their protection against violence. 

In this evolution fits the reform made in the Organic Law 1/1996, of January 15, Protection of Minors, modifying the Civil Code and the Civil Procedure Act, by the Organic Law 8/2015, of July 22, and the Law 26/2015, of July 28, both modifying the system of protection for children and adolescents, which introduces as a guiding principle of administrative action the protection of minors against all forms of violence, including those produced in their family environment, gender violence, human trafficking, and female genital mutilation, among others. 

And it is very important the enactment of the Organic Law 8/2021, of June 4, on comprehensive protection of children and adolescents against violence (LOPIVI). This law aims to combat violence against children and adolescents from a comprehensive approach unique in the entire European territory. The law goes beyond administrative frameworks and reaches different areas to assert its holistic intent. Violence against minors is a widespread reality across multiple fronts. It can often go unnoticed due to the intimacy of the environments where it occurs, such as family and school spheres, where most incidents happen and which should, in any case, be frameworks of safety and personal development for children and adolescents. Furthermore, it is common for sociological, educational, cultural, health, economic, administrative, and legal variables to intersect in these violent scenarios, necessitating a broad multidisciplinary approach in any legislative consideration of the matter.

This law, from an educational perspective, grants an essential priority to prevention, socialization, and education, both among minors and among families and civil society itself. The norm establishes measures for protection, early detection, assistance, reintegration of violated rights, and victim recovery, inspired by comprehensive care models identified as best practices in avoiding secondary victimization. Additionally, this law has come to reinforce the rights of children and adolescents, as its objective is to guarantee their fundamental rights: to their physical, mental, psychological, and moral integrity, against any form of violence, ensuring the free development of their personality and establishing comprehensive protection measures, including awareness, prevention, early detection, protection, and damage repair in all spheres in which their life develops.

Alongside this, it is necessary to point out that, following the territorial and administrative structure of the Spanish State, the Autonomous Communities, endowed with legislative power, have extensively developed regional legislation regarding the protection and promotion of the rights of minors.

Note that due to the commitment specified in the seventh additional provision of Organic Law 8/2021, the Monitoring Commission of the LOPIVI is created, responsible for analyzing the implementation of the law, its legal and economic repercussions, and evaluating its impact. The Commission is created by the Order PCM/126/2023, of February 10, being an inter-administrative cooperation body attached to the Ministry of Youth and Childhood in which several ministries participate. After several meetings, the Commission has contributed to the preparation of the implementation report of the LOPIVI, a reasoned report that includes analysis and suggestions for systemic improvement.      
 

Implementation Report of Organic Law 8/2021, of June 4, on comprehensive protection of children and adolescents against violence

Automatically translated with OpenAI from Spanish