More than 30% of girls, 13% of boys in India have sexually assaulted before age 18: Lancet Study
Around the world, about one in five girls and one in seven boys suffer from sexual violence before they are 18 years old.
Researchers, including researchers from the Institute of Health Indexes and Assessment at the University of Washington, also found that sub-Saharan Africa has the highest incidence of sexual violence, with about 8% of boys under the age of 18, ranging from about 8% in Zimbabwe to 28% in Kurt Ivor.
Sexual violence against children is a key public health and human rights issue. The consequences of sexual abuse affect people's long-term health by increasing the risk of their mental health status.
Researchers say accurate estimates of global sexual violence are important for targeted prevention and advocacy efforts.
However, existing studies have proposed estimates of countries with limited numbers and are hampered by data sparsity and measurement challenges.
This study, one of the earliest to provide global estimates, reviews publicly available repositories for data on sexual violence against children.
“We estimate that the global age standardization rate for SVAC (sexual violence against children) is 18.9% for women and 14.8% for men in 2023,” the authors wrote.
The group also said that in nearly 70% of men and women in the world, nearly 70% of men and adolescents and young people of the age group are exposed to sexual violence for the first time.
The authors also identified “lasting data gaps”, which highlighted expanded surveillance and surveillance programs.
They also call for more services and systems to support survivors of sexual violence for the rest of their lives and to create a childhood of free sexual violence.
