New data exposes prevalence of violence against children

A detailed and extensive compilation of data on violence against children by UNICEF has shown a high physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

The data also reveals attitudes that perpetuate and justify violence, keeping it ‘hidden in plain sight’ in every country and community in the world. 

The UNICEF report “Hidden in Plain Sight” draws on data from 190 countries, documenting violence in places where children should be safe: their communities, schools and homes. 

“These are uncomfortable facts. No government or parent will want to see them,” says UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake. 

“But unless we confront the reality each infuriating statistic represents, the life of a child whose right to a safe, protected childhood has been violated, we will never change the mindset that violence against children is normal and permissible.  It is neither”, says Mr Lake. 

Released last Thursday, September 4, 2014, the report details the lasting, often inter-generational effects of violence, finding that showed that children are more likely to become unemployed, live in poverty and be violent towards others. 

The major findings include:

Sexual violence 

Around 120 million girls under the age of 20 worldwide (about one in 10) have experienced forced intercourse or other forced sexual acts, and one in three ever-married adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 (84 million) have been victims of emotional, physical or sexual violence committed by their husbands or partners. 

The prevalence of partner violence is 70 per cent or higher in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea, and approaches or exceeds 50 per cent in Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zimbabwe. 

Homicide

One fifth of homicide victims globally are children and adolescents under the age of 20, resulting in about 95,000 deaths in 2012. According to the report, Nigeria has the highest number of child homicides – 13,000 in Africa. 

Bullying

Slightly more than one in three students between the ages of 13 and 15 worldwide are regularly bullied in school.

Violent discipline

 About 17 per cent of children in 58 countries are subject to severe forms of physical punishment (hitting on the head, ears or face or hitting hard and repeatedly). 

Globally, three in 10 adults believe physical punishment is needed to raise children well. In Swaziland, 82 per cent say physical punishment is necessary.

Attitudes towards violence

 Close to half of all adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 (around 126 million) believe a husband is justified in hitting his wife under certain circumstances. 

In 28 of 60 countries with data on both sexes, a larger proportion of girls than boys believe that wife-beating is sometimes justified. 

Data from 30 countries suggest that about seven in 10 girls 15-19 years old who had been victims of physical and/or sexual abuse had never sought help: many said they did not think it was abuse or did not see it as a problem.

Strategies to reduce violence

In helping to solve the situation, UNICEF points to six strategies to enable society as a whole, from families to governments, to prevent and reduce violence against children. 

They include supporting parents and equipping children with life skills; changing attitudes; strengthening judicial, criminal and social systems and services; and generating evidence and awareness about violence and its human and socio-economic costs in order to change attitudes and norms.

“Violence against children occurs every day, everywhere.  And while it harms individual children the most, it also tears at the fabric of society, undermining stability and progress, says Mr Lake. 

According to UNICEF Director, violence against children is not inevitable. It is preventable, if we refuse to let violence remain in the shadows”.  

“The evidence in this report compels us to act, for the sake of those individual children and the future strength of societies around the world”, Mr Lake added.