WHO is concerned about the high level of violence against children

According to international research data, 1/4 of the adult population of the earth was subjected to cruel treatment in childhood, in childhood every 5th woman and every 13th man were subjected to sexual harassment. According to psychologists, cruelty towards a child leads to the development of severe physical and mental health disorders, in addition, the consequences of childhood trauma can affect the social and professional sphere of life.

WHO experts are confident that cruelty towards children can and should be prevented and that in order to achieve the set goals, a multi-sectoral approach is needed; using effective programs, parents can be supported and taught the correct methods of raising children that would not traumatize the child's psyche.

Child abuse is generally considered to be lack of care, physical and psychological violence (threats, punishment, etc.), neglect, inattention to the problems of one's own children, exploitation of child labor for commercial purposes, etc., which ultimately threatens the mental and physical health, normal development, and human dignity of the child. Sexual harassment by a parent, relative, or stranger is also considered a form of violence.

Child abuse is a global problem today, but despite various studies, there is a significant lack of data on this issue, since cruelty to children is a complex and difficult to study problem. Existing estimates fluctuate over a fairly wide range and largely depend on the country and the research method used to conduct the analysis.

Expert groups estimate that more than 30,000 children under the age of 15 die every day in the world, but experts are confident that the scale of the tragedy is underestimated, since a significant number of fatal cases due to child abuse are attributed to unfortunate falls, burns, accidental drowning, etc. The problem of sexual and other types of violence against children and adolescents is especially acute in camps for refugees from armed conflict zones, where military personnel, humanitarian workers and other members of society, feeling the helplessness of children and their parents, as well as their own impunity, abuse children.

Due to the manifestation of cruelty on the part of adults, a child may experience severe stress, which will lead to disruption of the development of the brain, nervous, immune and other systems. People who were subjected to one or another form of violence in childhood are more likely to develop depression, obesity, alcohol and drug use, and smoking. In addition, the risk that such people themselves will commit physical or sexual violence against others increases. All this contributes to the development of cardiovascular problems, cancer, and increases the risk of suicide.

Experts have identified several risk factors that will help to generally imagine the reasons why violence is committed against children. First of all, it should be noted that the child never acts as the initiator of cruel behavior towards him/her; children are always victims. But some personal qualities of the child (character, excessive emotionality, etc.) can increase the risk of cruelty on the part of an adult; for example, most often, small children under 4 years old and teenagers suffer from such an attitude on the part of adults, as well as children who did not live up to the wishes of their parents or were unwanted in the family, children with physical disabilities.

Adults, for their part, expose the child to danger through inattention, bad habits (smoking, drinking alcohol, drugs), and involvement in criminal activity. Often children suffer from abuse due to financial problems of their parents, discord within the family (between parents), differences in gender, social status, and other characteristics.

WHO recommends that in order to prevent new cases of violence against children, various programs should be used that help young parents get used to their new role, in particular, by ensuring that homes where newborns are born are visited by nurses who should support, train and provide all the necessary information about the upbringing and development of the child.

Also conduct training workshops for mothers and fathers to improve their parenting skills, increase their knowledge of child development and instill positive parenting skills.

Before discharging a newborn from the hospital, new parents should be informed about the possibility of head injuries due to abuse, such as the so-called shaken baby syndrome.

To prevent sexual harassment of children, it is necessary to work with children in schools and explain to the child that his body is his property and no one has the right to touch him without his consent, the child should also know the difference between good, for example, hugs, and bad touches (to intimate parts of the body). It is important to teach children to recognize a threat from an adult, to be able to say a firm "no", and to be sure to tell about the situation to an adult who deserves trust, not only close relatives, but also strangers who are able to help, for example, a teacher.

For its part, WHO provides technical and normative guidance on preventing child abuse, calls on countries to strengthen measures to prevent new cases of violence, and to provide protection and support to children and families who have suffered from one form of violence or another.