November 18, 2024 – Today is World Day for the Prevention of and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Violence. This landmark day highlights the trauma of child sexual exploitation, abuse, and violence that is experienced by 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 7 boys across the globe. Children with disabilities are at even greater risk, with up to 68% of girls and 30% of boys with intellectual or developmental disabilities facing sexual abuse before reaching their 18th birthday.
Sexual violence knows no boundaries. Children across all cultural and socioeconomic contexts are at risk, and digital technologies have increased the risks children face.
Girls who are married early are at an even higher risk of physical and sexual violence. Every year, 12 million girls are married before their 18th birthday, robbing them of their childhood, access to education, and connection with family and friends. Child marriage also propels girls into motherhood before they are physically and emotionally prepared.
Sexual violence is of particular concern during emergencies, such as during humanitarian crises, armed conflict, war, and natural disasters. As global crises continue to escalate, there is an urgent and growing need to prioritize the protection of children from sexual exploitation, abuse, and violence.
Statistics Not Telling the Whole Story
Children and adolescents who are victims of sexual exploitation, abuse, and violence often choose to remain silent about their experiences and do not seek professional help. Oftentimes, the perpetrator is a family member or friend, and the child fears the consequences that person may face. Sometimes children feel shame, fear being stigmatized or ostracized, and worry that they won’t be believed. In some communities, social, gender, and cultural norms are often used to justify and normalize harmful practices against girls, including female genital mutilation, child marriage, and femicide. Importantly, children who enjoy strong parent-child interactions and who feel safe and secure with their parents are more likely to report abuse.
Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Violence Have Lifelong Effects
Children who experience sexual abuse face a myriad of physical, social, and emotional consequences that have lifelong implications. They tend to be socially isolated, experience mental stress, and may attempt and commit suicide. They are also more likely to use alcohol or drugs. Sexual violence increases children’s risk of illness, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancy, psychological distress, stigma, discrimination, and difficulties in school. When children who are victims of sexual violence receive counseling, outcomes significantly improve when their parents are also supported through targeted interventions.
Parents, Communities, and Society Must Take Action
Parents play a critical role in protecting their children from sexual exploitation, abuse, and violence. To effectively fulfill this role, parents need support and resources that enable them to take action to protect their children. Parenting support initiatives can provide parents with knowledge and awareness of potential risks to alert them to the dangers their children may face. Equipping parents with practical tools, effective approaches, and strong support structures will further enhance their ability to protect their children.
Parent and caregiver support initiatives have been shown to effectively break cycles of violence at home and in the community, addressing intimate partner violence, gender-based violence, child maltreatment, and other adverse childhood experiences. These programs not only help prevent the perpetuation of violence in future generations but also mitigate the long-term impact of childhood abuse on parenting behaviors, ultimately reducing parental stress and fostering healthier family dynamics.
Parent and caregiver support is a strategy that is included in INSPIRE: Seven Strategies for Ending Violence Against Children, which has been shown to effectively break cycles of violence at home and in the community by addressing intimate partner violence, gender-based violence, child maltreatment, and other adverse childhood experiences. Programs such as these not only help prevent the perpetuation of violence in future generations but also mitigate the long-term impact of childhood abuse on parenting behaviors, ultimately reducing parental stress and fostering healthier family dynamics.
Supporting Parents Can Accelerate Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Working to safeguard children from sexual exploitation, abuse, and violence aligns with the following SDGs:
Parenting interventions can support reducing gender-based and intimate partner violence, improving gender equity and equality, and providing girls, boys, women, and men with equal chances to develop their full potential.
Goal 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels through decreased physical and emotional violence against children, increased parental capacity to protect children from violence in the community, and protection against sexual violence.
Parenting interventions can support achieving this target by decreasing the cycle of violence at home and in the community, including intimate partner violence, gender-based violence, and child maltreatment, future violence, and other adverse childhood experiences. In addition, parents of children with disabilities can be offered strategies for preventing and addressing disability-related discrimination and violence within families and communities.
Protecting children from sexual exploitation, abuse, and violence must be at the heart of societal priorities. Research consistently demonstrates that parenting interventions are among the most effective strategies for safeguarding children and fostering resilience. These interventions equip parents with the skills and knowledge to create safe, nurturing environments, while also enabling communities, services, and governments to collaborate to ensure children are protected at home, in schools, within their communities, and online. By working together, we can build a safer, more secure future for all children.
- Around 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 7 boys across the globe experience sexual violence before their eighteenth birthday.
- About 1 in 8 girls and 1 in 11 boys have experienced rape or sexual assault in childhood.
- Around the world, more than 230 million girls and women have been cut. Africa accounts for the largest share of this total, at more than 144 million.
- Across the globe, levels of child marriage are highest in West and Central Africa, where nearly 4 in 10 young women were married before age 18.
- About 640 million girls and women living today were married as children, and at least 200 million girls and women have been subjected to female genital mutilation.
- Globally, around 1 in 5 adolescent girls have experienced physical and/or sexual partner violence in the past year.
- Children and adolescents with disabilities are 3 to 4 times more likely to experience physical and sexual violence and neglect than other children, and they are at significantly increased risk of experiencing sexual violence: up to 68% of girls and 30% of boys with intellectual or developmental disabilities will be sexually abused before reaching their 18th birthday.
References: