Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Suffer Little Children

A child is killed by violence every five minutes in the world, says the UK's branch of the UN children's agency Unicef. Most of those deaths occur outside war zones. It says those living in poverty are more likely to be the victims of violence. An adolescent boy in Latin America is 70 times more likely to be murdered than one in the UK.  Unicef says 95,000 children and teenagers - most of them in Latin America and the Caribbean - were murdered in 2012 alone. Nigeria had the highest number of child homicides - 13,000, while the US had the highest homicide rate among countries in Western Europe and North America.

Research showed that violence was "detrimental to all aspects of a child's growth... with sometimes lifelong repercussions." 30% of who are victims of violence are likely to develop long-lasting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The report says no nation is currently able to provide children with the full protection they need.

This report can be added to earlier research about the exposure of children to violence.

About 120 million girls around the world - slightly more than one in 10 - have been raped or sexually assaulted by the age of 20, a UN report says. Boys also report experiences of sexual violence, but to a lesser extent than girls.

Of the countries surveyed, nearly half of all girls aged 15-19 believed that a husband was justified in hitting his wife under certain circumstances, the study added.

 One in four children experts say will witness domestic violence by the age of 18.  It is claimed by the Early Intervention Foundation, this can have "significant consequences" for those children not not getting the support they need.

Six out of 10 children aged between two and 14 are physically punished by carers

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