UNICEF warns of increasing child abuse in East Asia and the Pacific
(Aug. 08, 2012) The high prevalence of physical abuse is causing long-term damage
to the lives of far too many children in East Asia and the Pacific, warns a new report
by the United Nations Children’s Fund - UNICEF released on Wednesday. The report on
Child Maltreatment: Prevalence, Incidence and Consequences, analyses a series of
studies undertaken by experts and academics over the past decade on child maltreatment
in the region. “Child maltreatment has harmful long-term consequences, not only for
the children suffering the abuse, but also for the families and societies in which
they live,” UNICEF’s Regional Child Protection Specialist, Amalee McCoy, said in a
news release. “Understanding the prevalence of child maltreatment is a first step
towards identifying the right measures to make every child in the region safer,” she
added. There are currently some 580 million children in the East Asia–Pacific region,
representing one quarter of the world’s children, living in some of the most densely
populated and culturally diverse places in the world. The report reveals that
although the frequency of physical abuse of children varies from country to country
and from study to study, the best case scenario suggests that one in 10 children experience
physical abuse, while the worst case finds that 30.3 per cent of children suffer from
abuse. Severe physical abuse includes beatings, including those inflicted by fists
or implements, which result in physical injury. According to UNICEF, the consistently
high prevalence of child maltreatment throughout a region with such a large number
of children was “distressing.” In addition, amongst other findings, the report found
that between 14 and 30 per cent of the region’s boys and girls report experiencing
forced sex, and for many young people their first experiences of sexual intercourse
is forced. “We need to strengthen national child protection systems to protect children
who are already experiencing harm, and to create environments where abuse is prevented
and the risks of violence to children are mitigated,” McCoy said.