Russian children's rights groups have formed a coalition to stem the growing tide of violence against minors in the country, the Russian Public Chamber said on Wednesday.
Russia has recently witnessed a number of horrific crimes against children. On Tuesday, Nikita Chemezov, 2, died in a Siberian hospital after about a year in a coma following a beating by his parents.
In 2009, over 105,000 crimes against children were registered in Russia.
The coalition, called Childhood without Violence and Cruelty, was established at a special conference organized by an interdepartmental working team of the Public Chamber, a presidential advisory group.
The coalition will work to compile a comprehensive databank on crimes against children, juvenile crime, and special childcare facilities throughout the country. It will subsequently submit a report to the Russian president and the ombudsman for children's rights.
Public Chamber member Boris Altshuler said the coalition should help state social and childcare services work more effectively.
"Every day, the Russian state takes about 200 children from their parents and places them into its custody. There are 600,000 children in our orphanages, shelters, and other childcare institutions, 70% of whom have parents who have been stripped of their parental rights," he said.
He stressed that the current system "is designed to 'protect children's rights' by destroying families and isolating children from society."
"This practice must be brought to an end," Altshuler said.
MOSCOW, March 3 (RIA Novosti)
