23 October 2014 – Every five minutes, somewhere across the globe, a child is killed by violence. This is one of the shocking findings of the recent report published by Unicef UK.

Millions of children are in danger, facing violence, disease, hunger, or the chaos of war and disaster. That’s why Unicef UK has launched their new campaign with the publication of the report ‘Children in Danger: Act to End Violence against Children’.

According to the groundbreaking report, millions of young people under the age of 20 are unsafe in their community, schools, and even homes. This finding is, however, not just limited to war or conflict zones. Fourteen per cent of Canadian high school students are bullied online or through text messages.

Violence and inequality

In addition, children who are marginalised by income, class, ethnicity, religion, gender, or disability are much more likely to live their lives in danger. This explains why two thirds of child murders take place in lower middle of low income countries.

But violence against children causes more than just direct physical and emotional damage. Studies of children who were exposed to domestic violence show that a third becomes aggressive themselves, and one in five act out or have difficulties making friendships.

Additionally, violence can feed further violence, trapping victims in a cycle of violence that can echo down through generations. Studies on child abuse indicate that one in three child abusers were themselves abused during childhood, and abused boys are 17 per cent more likely to be violent to their future partner.

Until every child is safe

Unicef now set out six strategies for ending this violence against children. These strategies include supporting parents, caregivers and families; as well as changing attitudes and social norms, and implementing laws and policies that protect children.

 

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