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World
UN: 50.000 children died of domestic violence in 2002
New York, 08:25
A total of 53.000 children under age 17 died as a result of
homicide in 2002, according to the UN Secreatry-General's Study on Violence
Against Children.
The study, presented to the UN General Assembly in New York, has
revealed that much violence against children remain shidden and is often
socially approved.
The study is the first document of its kind that provides global view on the
volume and the level of violence against children.
In the report, the term violence is defined as physical violence,
discrimination, sexual abuse, humiliating punishments in schools, brutality
within the family and abuse of children in the institutions.
"The best way to deal with violence against children is to stop it before
it happens", said independent expert on these issues, Paulo Sergio
Pinheiro, appointed by the Secretariat to head the Study.
The study, which encompasses human rights, world health and perspectives of
child protection, is focused onto the violence that occurs above all in the
home and in the family, schools and education institutions, correctional and
protection institutions, workplaces and within the communities.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) said 5.7 million children were
subjected to forced or bonded labour, 1.8 million were forced into prostitution
and pornography and 1.2 million were victims of trafficking in 2000.
The extreme violence against children is one of the main issues, but, according
to the study, the violence against many of the children has become routine, a
part of their everyday life.
According to 2000 population data and worldwide studies, as many as 73 million
children children under 18 were forced into sexual intercourse and 150 million
suffered other forms of sexual violence, including touching, the WHO said.
The report said each year 275 million children worldwide witness domestic
violence, which has short- and long-term impacts on their development. /end/
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