A/65/262 A. Address to the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session and to the Human Rights Council at its thirteenth session 78. In her address to the Third Committee on 14 October 2009, at the sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly (see A/C.3/64/SR.13), the Special Representative recalled the human rights foundation and the framework provided for her mandate by the study and its recommendations; and she presented the key priority areas for her work, namely, the development of a national strategy to prevent and respond to violence against children, the adoption of an explicit national legal ban on all forms of violence against children, and the consolidation of research and data systems in this area. 79. These dimensions were further considered at the thirteenth session of the Human Rights Council, during the Special Representative’s interactive dialogue with the Council and her participation in the panel discussion on sexual violence against children. Member States provided very positive feedback on her core agenda and expressed commitment to supporting her mandate. This was critical to shaping the work ahead and promoting a fruitful collaboration with governments across regions. 80. These two United Nations meetings provided a strategic forum for the Special Representative to join hands with Member States, United Nations agencies, regional organizations and civil society and child-led organizations in arranging high-level events designed to raise awareness, promote cross-fertilization of experiences and encourage further progress in crucial areas of the Special Representative’s agenda — these include the development of national strategies to prevent and address violence in all settings, the enactment of effective legislation, and the promotion of gender-sensitive and child-participatory approaches, as well as the promotion of universal ratification and effective implementation of international children’s rights standards. B. Participation in the twelfth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice 81. The Special Representative’s participation, in April 2010, in the Congress and in the Latin American Seminar on Juvenile Justice, hosted in parallel by the Government of Brazil, provided a strategic platform to address situations of violence experienced by child victims of crime and children deprived of liberty. 82. As highlighted by those meetings, child victims of violence are still too often criminalized and not protected as children, including as a result of trafficking and sexual exploitation. Marginalized children, including migrant and asylum-seeking children, are often subject to physical, psychological and sexual violence, denied access to legal assistance and placed in detention as a substitute for care arrangements. Thousands of children are subjected to deprivation of liberty, frequently used as a first option rather than a measure of last resort; they risk torture, abuse and humiliating treatment, including when placed in pretrial detention, and endure violence as a form of control, discipline or punishment; in some countries, sentencing can include caning, flogging, stoning or amputation, as well as capital punishment and life imprisonment without possibility of release. 16 10-47898