One in eight girls is sexually abused or raped before they turn 18, says UNICEF | Global development

According to the first global estimates of the problem, more than 370 million women and girls alive today – or almost one in eight – have experienced rape or sexual assault before turning 18.

A new UNICEF report describes sexual violence against children as an “overwhelming” violation of human rights, with survivors carrying the trauma into adulthood. It says the scale of the offending is “appalling in its magnitude”.

When “non-contact” forms of sexual violence are included, such as unwanted sexual jokes or comments, exposure to pornography or exposure of sexual organs, the rate rises to one in five, researchers found.

The agency said that while girls and women were the worst affected, about one in 11 boys or men had also experienced rape or sexual assault during childhood.

Unicef ​​Executive Director Catherine Russell said: “Sexual violence against children is a stain on our moral conscience. It causes deep and lasting trauma, often at the hands of someone the child knows and trusts, in places where they should feel safe.”

The report includes anonymized stories of individual cases, including 12-year-old Analyn, who was rescued from her home in the Philippines and taken to a government shelter. At the age of 10, she had participated in livestreaming child sexual abuse after a neighbor approached her and offered money.

Xume, a 15-year-old shepherd from a village in Ethiopia, was exiled by her community after being raped. She said: “The cows died because of the drought, but people said it was my fault because I am a bad person. That was because I was raped and didn’t tell anyone, out of shame and fear.

“But when I turned out to be pregnant, I was excluded from the community and accused of killing the cows.”

Most childhood sexual violence occurred against teenagers, with a particular peak between ages 14 and 17. The most likely abusers are family, friends, or intimate partners.

Russell said children in fragile environments, such as those with weak institutions, UN peacekeepers or large numbers of refugees, are particularly vulnerable. In those areas, one in four girls experienced rape or sexual assault.

“We are witnessing horrific sexual violence in conflict zones, where rape and gender-based violence are often used as weapons of war,” she said.

Sexual violence against children occurs in all parts of the world, the report shows. The highest percentage was in Oceania, where 34% of women – 6 million people – had been victims. The highest numbers were in sub-Saharan Africa, where 79 million women and girls, or 22%, were affected.

However, UNICEF said caution should be exercised when comparing between regions, due to factors such as varying levels of under-reporting and social and cultural norms.

In 2015, the global community committed to ending all forms of violence against children by 2030 as one of the Sustainable Development Goals. The report comes ahead of a first global ministerial conference on ending violence against children in Colombia in November.

Unicef ​​said it was difficult to understand the extent of sexual violence against children “due to stigma, difficulties in measurement and limited investment in data collection”. This was especially true when we looked at boys’ experiences and contactless forms, the UN agency said.

But it says that “since the turn of the millennium, the widespread increase in access to the internet and the use of digital and mobile technology on a global scale has created new forms of sexual abuse and exploitation.”

The report is based on surveys conducted in 120 countries and territories between 2010 and 2022, while estimates for boys and men and of non-contact sexual violence “draw on a wider range of data sources and apply some indirect methods”.