19 November was World Day for the prevention of Child Abuse.
Reading the statistics on child abuse is staggering – often shocking!
It is not only figures such as 1 million children each year are forced into the sex trade, but it is also the abuse that surrounds us in our daily lives amongst people we know that we often tend to turn a blind eye to.
Most child abuse happens in the child’s home. It is therefore often unreported, unseen, and the children often remain silent, feeling shamed and guilty.
Of the rapes and sexual abuse reported of children under 12 years, 90% of the victims knew their perpetrator
Child abuse occurs at all socio-economic levels of society, across ethic and cultural lines, within all religions and at all levels of education.
One third of abused and neglected children will go on to abuse and neglect their own children, continuing the horrible cycle of abuse.
These figures do not include the atrocities committed against children in countries of conflict, where rape and violence against children is common, and an estimated 300,000 child soldiers - boys and girls under the age of 18 - are involved in more than 30 conflicts worldwide.
UNICEF, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the World Health Organization has released the United Nations Secretary World Report on Violence Against Children, to coincide with both World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse and with the 15th anniversary of the Commission for the Rights of the Child.
These are just a few of the projects on betterplace.org that support children – and we encourage you to reach out and support:
“Life House Kids Bali”https://www.betterplace.org/projects/484
“Teams for children’s rights” https://www.betterplace.org/projects/103
“School for life in Chiang Mai” https://www.betterplace.org/projects/64
Children’s safety is our responsibility!