Security arrangements comprise the processes, infrastructure and assets a company uses to protect its employees and property. These arrangements may have particular relevance to industries with production facilities in politically and socially volatile or remote areas, such as extractive or agricultural industries, or companies that supply housing for their employees. The last decade has seen significant advances in how companies think about, access and monitor the provision of security at their business premises, including the adoption in 2000 of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. In 2010 the private security providers themselves signed an International Code of Conduct.
Despite these advances, children’s rights and needs require further attention in setting and applying the rules of security. Company personnel or contracted security services may encounter young children and adolescents in a variety of ways: as workers, as members of the community, as perpetrators, as victims, or as witnesses to infractions. Further vigilance will create important opportunities for companies to expand their contributions to child protection in connection with security issues.
What your company can do:
- Make respecting children’s rights part of the selection criteria for security personnel.
- Train security staff to respect children’s rights and to enforce child protection measures.
- Establish and enforce strict rules against physical punishment or child abuse.
- Consider the rights of children before handing them over to the criminal justice system.