Abstract
Over the past several decades, there has been a noticeable shift in societal attitudes towards violence against children and adolescents. While it is not yet completely taboo, the trend is encouraging. A key catalyst for this change is the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), ratified by 196 states. Although the full realisation of these rights may take time, progress related to protection and participation is undeniable in Central Europe. My research deals with violence against children and adolescents in their families as well as in child and youth welfare. In the context of professional action, the forms of violence expand, especially when there is a system failure in terms of victim protection and prosecution of acts of violence by organizations, as shown by many studies on violence in educational institutions carried out in the last 20 years (cp. Loch et al., 2022; Loch, 2025).