Lagos: Around the world, 1.6 billion children or two in three, experience violent punishment by caregivers at home, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports.
UNICEF also reports that one in four children, around 610 million, live with mothers who have been victims of intimate partner violence in the past year.
This is contained in a statement issued on Wednesday, signed by Claudia Cappa, a Senior Adviser in the Data and Analytics Section of the Division of Data, Analytics, Planning and Monitoring at UNICEF.
Cappa said that the findings revealed the extent to which violence permeated children’s daily lives, and often in the very places where they should feel safest.
“For the first time, the new UNICEF analysis provides a regional breakdown of children’s exposure to intimate partner violence, offering the most detailed global picture yet of where children are most at risk.
“Children in Oceania, Central and Southern Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa are the most likely to live with a mother who has experienced physical, emotional or sexual abuse by a partner.
“Living in violent households is harmful to all aspects of children’s development and well-being — in such contexts, many children are also directly subjected to violent discipline themselves, “the adviser said.
The adviser said that this form of violence against children could not be ended by ending violence against women.
According to her, the safety and well-being of mothers and children are inseparable.
UNICEF calls for stronger laws and better coordinated services that link responses to intimate partner violence and child protection.
“Also, efforts to challenge the social norms that excuse or enable abuse, “she said.
