A new UNICEF report opens our eyes to an unfortunate situation. "Hidden in full light" are the millions of cases of violence against children in the world, and we cannot remain impassive.
According to this report prepared with data from 190 countries, violence is a constant in the lives of the world's children of the most diverse origins and the most varied circumstances. It documents the attacks that occur in places where children should be safe: their schools, their communities and their homes.
But they are uncomfortable data that many families and governments do not want to see, so it is said that they are "Hidden in full light". Shouldn't they face each other, so they don't perpetuate themselves? Because let's not forget that these are unprotected children, deprived of a happy childhood.
The report notes that 120 million girls and adolescents suffer in some way sexual violence and 95,000 children die from homicides a year, shocking figures of physical, sexual and emotional abuse suffered by children around the world.
The figures referring to emotional, physical or sexual abuse of married girls and adolescents, especially in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zimbabwe, stand out.
There is also sexual violence in developed countries, especially through the Internet. In Switzerland, a national study of girls and boys aged 15 to 17 found that 22% and 8%, respectively, had suffered at least one incident of sexual violence with physical contact
In Latin American countries such as Panama, Venezuela, El Salvador, Brazil, Colombia and Guatemala, the main cause of death among men aged 10 to 19 is homicide.
On average, six out of every ten children in the world (about 1 billion) from two to 14 years old periodically suffer corporal punishment at the hands of their caregivers. In most cases, children are subject to a combination of physical punishment and psychological assault.
It is not the first time that Unicef calls attention to child violence in the world, we also saw a campaign that called to make the invisible visible, and although we would love it to be the last, I am very afraid that we will continue to hear about this worrying issue .
Fights between minors, the alleged ways of "educating" hitting in which many parents believe or the justification of sexist violence by many women are other interesting facts that we find in the UNICEF report "Hidden in full light". Cases of violence a little less hidden, but on which action needs to be taken.
Official Site | UNICEF
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