Violence Against Children: UNICEF Report Reveals Worldwide Child Abuse Statistics
In a damning report on children's rights, UNICEF said that about two-thirds of children worldwide are physically abused by their guardians on a regular basis.
The report, called "Hidden in plain sight: A statistical analysis of violence against children," also says that one in 10 girls are sexually abused and one in three teenagers between the ages of 13 and 15 are bullied in school, The Wall Street Journal reported.
About six in 10 children, or one billion worldwide, face corporal punishment as a form of discipline by their caregivers, including parents. The report found that "the most severe forms of corporal punishment -- hitting a child on the head, ears or face or hitting a child hard and repeatedly -- are less common overall."
The UNICEF report collected data from 190 countries for the report.
"If there is one common aspect of human society right now, it is the fact that tremendous violence is committed against children," UNICEF's Child Protection Chief Susan Bissell said.
"It is important that we don't simply go away with the message that violence is everywhere, there are tried, true, measured, evaluated solutions"
The violence against children doesn't stop at just abuse, the report says. One-fifth of global homicide victims are children and, in 2012, 95,000 children were murdered, according to the Times of India.
UNICEF has come up with a set of strategies to reduce violence against children, including strengthening, judicial, criminal and social systems and services, generating awareness about violence, and equipping children with life skills.
"These are uncomfortable facts -- no government or parent will want to see them," UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said. "But unless we confront the reality each infuriating statistic represents -- the life of a child whose right to a safe, protected children has been violated - we will never change the mindset that violence against children is normal and permissible. It is neither."
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