October 04, 2008	Saturday	Shawwal 04, 1429

GENEVA: A United Nations panel called on Britain on Friday to stem persistently high rates of violence and sexual abuse against children at home and in school.

British authorities should also ensure that no one under the age of 18 is deployed to combat areas, and raise its minimum age for armed forces recruitment from 16 to 18, it said.

The UN Committee of the Rights of the Child issued its conclusions after examining the records of seven countries, including Britain, at a three-week session that ended on Friday.

In Britain, the 18 independent experts said they remained “alarmed at the still high prevalence of violence, abuse and neglect against children, including in the home, and at the lack of a comprehensive nationwide strategy in this regard”.

Mechanisms should be set up to monitor the extent of violence, sexual abuse, neglect, or mistreatment, including within the family, at school and in institutional care, it said.—Reuters