"10 Esential Learning Points: Listen and Speak out against Sexual Abuse of Girls and Boys"

Global Submission by the International Save the Children Alliance UN Study on Violence against Children

The report is based on country reports from Save the Children in Canada, Colombia, Brazil, Nicaragua, Syria, South Africa, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, Bangladesh, Nepal, Spain and Romania.

"All forms of violence against children, but most of all sexual abuse perpetrated by persons who children trust in and feel loyalty towards, destroys once and for all the basic feelings of happiness, safety and security connected to being with that person. This enormous, irreplaceable loss is the price paid, but seldom acknowledged, by the abusers, and suffered by the child. The loss of a loved parent through death, though tragic for a child, can be mourned, and the memories of their relationship nurtured. Most children get through such losses. To lose a parent due to him or her becoming something dangerousand incomprehensible, leaves a permanent underground source of sorrow and despair throughout life.

The voices of children in this remarkable report, edited by Turid Heiberg, which distils research on sexual violence against children from 13 different countries, leaves the reader in no doubt about the impact abuse has had upon them as growing persons. The fact that most abuse occurs in the family environment also means that it tends to become a repetitive action, beginning often in early childhood and spanning several years. Fear, misplaced feelings of loyalty, lack of knowledge about what is happening to them, and lack of access to trustworthy and understanding adults, imprison millions of children every day in cocoons of silence. We learn how abuse at home can influence life pathways when children decide to leave their families in search of a safer world, only to be further exploited as a commercial commodity" (quoted from the report page 7).

• Un study on violence against children (2541Kb)