The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) encourages its stakeholders to submit feedback on a proposal for an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) International Workshop Agreement (IWA) on a framework for child-friendly and multiagency response for child abuse. Submit comments to ANSI by February 16.
The Swedish Institute for Standards (SIS) and Icelandic Standards (IST) submitted to ISO a proposal for the development of a new ISO IWA, emphasizing that there is a need for better international guidelines or standards for the process to implement and operate a child-friendly multidisciplinary and interagency response center.
“A high number of children and adolescents are victims of child abuse and violence,” according to the document. “The National Children’s Alliance estimates that over 600,000 children are abused in the U.S. each year. According to The Crime Survey for England and Wales, it is estimated that 7.5% of adults aged 18 to 75 years experienced sexual abuse before the age of 16. A new survey data among children in Iceland (Icelandic Youth Study, University of Iceland, 2023) estimates that around 17% of girls and 5% of boys have suffered some form of sexual abuse by age 16.”
The scope of the proposed ISO IWA is as follows:
“This document provides requirements and recommendations for a child-friendly multidisciplinary and interagency response model for abused children. It provides a holistic framework for a multidisciplinary and interagency collaboration to ensure that child-victims and witnesses of violence are provided with a child-friendly, professional, and effective response in a safe environment.”
As the U.S. member body to ISO, ANSI encourages all interested U.S. parties to review the proposal and a draft of the IWA guideline aims. Submit comments to Steven Cornish, ANSI senior program director of international policy and strategy, at [email protected] by close of business on February 16, 2024. All input ANSI receives will be used to develop the ANSI representative input to the ISO/Technical Management Board.
What is an IWA?
An IWA is a type of document that is developed with direct participation of stakeholders outside of the traditional ISO country representation to enable players to negotiate an open workshop environment. After the IWA workshop, text will be edited and published. A proposal to hold an ISO workshop for the purpose of developing one or more IWA on a particular subject may come from any source, including ISO member bodies, liaison organizations, corporate bodies, etc.
