UN: Children face unprecedented wave of violence

Special Representative on Violence against Children. Dr. Maalla M’jid, warned that the children are facing unprecedented wave of violence and sexual abuse, resulting from wars, hunger, displacement and climate changes.

Maalla M’jid told AFP “Children are not responsible for wars or the climate crisis, yet they are paying a heavy price for it. Violence against children has reached unprecedented levels due to multifaceted and interconnected crises”.

“Ending violence is possible, it makes economic sense, and there are a huge number of people around the world committed to ending this problem, but the situation is tragic,” she added.

Later today, Maalla M’jid will present a report to the United Nations showing that brutal violence against children is widespread, and that technology is facilitating crimes against young people in an unprecedented way.

By the end of 2022, there were more than 450 million children living in areas experiencing conflict, and forty percent of the 120 million displaced people at the end of last April were children, while 333 million children live in extreme poverty. What makes the situation worse is that more than a billion children are at risk of being affected by climate change, according to the report.

The report shows that suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 19.

Maalla M’jid warned that child marriage is a widespread scourge, with the number of victims of this practice reaching 640 million. While more than 370 million girls and women around the world have been subjected to rape or sexual assault during their childhood or adolescence, according to an international report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which addresses this type of violence that has reached a “dangerous scale”.

“Children can be victims of exploitation, whether online or offline,” said Maalla M’jid. “They can be victims of child labour, slavery and many other practices, as well as armed conflict.”

Souha Suleiman