5th September, 2014
A United Nations reports says about 120 million girls around the world which is slightly over one in 10 girls have been raped or sexually assaulted by the age of 20.
The children’s agency Unicef also says 95,000 children and teenagers – most of them in Latin America and the Caribbean – were murdered in 2012 alone.
It notes that children around the globe are routinely exposed to violence, including bullying.
The document draws on data from 190 countries.
‘Lifelong repercussions’
The violence “cuts across boundaries of age, geography, religion, ethnicity and income brackets,” Unicef executive director Anthony Lake said.
“It occurs in places where children should be safe, their homes, schools and communities.
“Increasingly, it happens over the internet, and it’s perpetrated by family members and teachers, neighbours and strangers and other children.”
The study revealed that about six out of 10 children aged between two and 14 were subjected to physical punishment from their carers on a regular basis.
One in three girls, aged between 15 and 19, who had at some time been in cohabiting relationships, had been victims of emotional, physical or sexual violence committed by their husbands or partners, the report said.
Partner violence appeared to be particularly prevalent in countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, the report said.
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.