Violence Against Children in Numbers

by: Troy Tabujara

Over 1 billion children all around the world experience violence.

Globally, over 1 billion children between the ages of 2 and 17 experience violence – may it be physical, emotional, or sexual. The estimates for the entire group of 2 to 17-year-olds indicated that a minimum of 64% of these children in Asia, 56% in Northern America, 50% in Africa, 34% in Latin America, and 12% in Europe experience these types of violence.

In Europe, the World Health Organization estimated that 44 million minors (about 22.9%) have been victims of physical violence; 55 million children (about 29.6%) have been victims of emotional or psychological violence; and about 18 million have been victims of sexual violence.

In Oceania/Australia, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) estimated that 1 out of 6 women (16%, or 1.5 million) reported that they were abused physically or sexually as a child and 1 out of 9 men (11%, or 9.92 thousand) reported that they were abused when they were minors.

In North America, official government data reports that over 700 million children are victims of violence and abuse every year. According to the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), 1 out of 10 children experiences sexual abuse.

In South/Latin America, UNICEF estimates that 2 out of 3 children under 15 years old experience violent discipline at home. Also, 1.1 million women under 19 years old have experienced sexual violence from childhood.

In Africa, the Center for Justice and Crime Prevention revealed that 1 out of 3 South Africans, male or female, was at risk of sexual abuse before reaching the age of 17. The victims in this case are prevalently boys and not even 1/3 had reported the violence to the police.

In Asia, an estimation of the total minimum numbers of children exposed, which shows Asia has the highest number, with over 700 million children exposed. In the Philippines, one of the findings of CWC and UNICEF shows that 8 out of 10 children have experienced abuse, usually starting at home.

Studies also show that a child exposed to more than four unfavorable experiences during his/her childhood, then that child “becomes 2 times more likely to have heart disease, 4 times more likely to engage in risky alcohol consumptions, 6 times more likely to have early pregnancy in teen years, 6 times more likely to start smoking and 20 times more likely to commit a crime and go to jail, as well as 49 times more likely to attempt suicide.”

Sources:

Unicef.org. (2020). Violence against children is a global epidemic that requires urgent measures. [online] Available at: https://www.unicef.org/bulgaria/en/press-releases/violence-against-children-global-epidemic-requires-urgent-measures [Accessed 12 Feb. 2020].

Pbc2019.org. (2020). PBC 2019: Child abuse on the global level. [online] Available at: https://www.pbc2019.org/protection-of-minors/child-abuse-on-the-global-level [Accessed 12 Feb. 2020].

Hillis, S., Mercy, J., Amobi, A. and Kress, H. (2020). Global Prevalence of Past-year Violence Against Children: A Systematic Review and Minimum Estimates.

Crisostomo, S. (2020). 8 of 10 children in the Philippines experienced violence | Philstar.com. [online] philstar.com. Available at: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/04/08/1803848/8-10-children-philippines-experienced-violence [Accessed 12 Feb. 2020].

Unicef.org. (2020). End violence. [online] Available at: https://www.unicef.org/lac/en/end-violence [Accessed 13 Feb. 2020].