A/68/274 local resources and community volunteers should be encouraged for successful implementation at the community level. 3. Protecting children affected by armed and gang violence 54. The protection of children from the impact of armed and gang violence is another priority for the second term of the Special Representative’s mandate. In cooperation with strategic partners, including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and UNICEF, research work has been advanced in anticipation of an expert consultation in 2014. 55. Incidents of violence in the community, violence associated with criminal activities and violence occurring in the privacy of the home often become deeply interconnected. They cause fear, insecurity and harm to families, communities and society in general. Children are hard hit, both as victims and as witnesses. 56. Adolescent boys are at high risk of homicide as a result of participation in violence-prone activities, such as street fighting, street crime, gang membership and possession of weapons. For girls, the incidence of inter-partner violence is particularly high, and in many nations, family-related homicide is the major cause of female deaths. 57. Violence associated with gang violence, including extortion, physical violence, homicides and disappearances, dramatically hamper childhood and adolescent development. It compromises access to education and health services, recreation and social support, and is associated with lower levels of school enrolment and retention, and higher levels of poverty. In turn, deprivation aggravates the risk of increased levels of domestic violence and children’s vulnerability. 58. Those belonging to the poorest sectors or coming from regions where gang activity is prevalent end up being stigmatized and perceived as delinquents, with enhanced risk of criminalization, and limited options for protection and genuine reintegration. 59. This situation is at times aggravated by the impact of migration. As highlighted during the Special Representative’s visit to El Salvador, in June 2013, 40 per cent of Salvadoran children live with only one or even without any parent, as a result of migration or abandonment by their family. In many cases, deprivation is the norm at home, with one in every two children living in poverty, and with limited access to social services of quality to prevent and respond to violence. 60. Children from disadvantaged communities are attractive targets for organized criminal activities. Through coercion, social pressure or the promise of financial reward, they are at risk of being recruited or manipulated to hold or deliver drugs or weapons, to carry out petty crime, to beg on the streets or to become involved in other exploitative activities. 61. Public fear of gang violence and youth crime has generated social pressure for the criminalization of children and adolescents, lower minimum ages of criminal responsibility and longer sentences of imprisonment. This has been accompanied by media stigmatization of children from disadvantaged groups and a culture of tolerance of violence against them. In this process, poor rule of law and weak law enforcement performance, together with public fear of retaliation, lead to sporadic convictions and a deep sense of impunity. 13-41970 15/26