According to data collected by Unicef and PAHO, between 2015 and 2022, 53,318 victims of homicide among children and adolescents were registered in the region.
Violence continues to be one of the most serious threats to the well-being of children in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region with more than 53,000 minors murdered in seven years and where homicide rates among adolescent girls doubled, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reported this Monday, January 26.
The report ‘Violence against children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean: New data and solutions’, published this Monday jointly by PAHO and Unicef, warns that violence is not an isolated event, but is present “from very early ages” and in different environments.
“Every day, millions of children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean live exposed to violence – at home, at school and in communities with the presence of gangs. Multiple places and situations in the region present real risks and dangers for boys and girls,” warned UNICEF regional director Roberto Benes in a statement.
According to the data collected, between 2015 and 2022, 53,318 homicide victims among children and adolescents were registered in the region.
Furthermore, although the homicide rate among male adolescents aged 15 to 17 decreased in the period from 2021 to 2022 – falling from 17.63 to 10.68 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants – the homicide rate among female adolescents aged 15 to 17 “doubled”, going from 2.13 to 5.1 deaths per 100,000.
The report links this lethal violence to the rise of organized crime, easy access to firearms, social inequalities and harmful gender norms that increasingly expose young women.
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Violent discipline and sexual abuse
The study also indicates that 6 out of 10 children and adolescents up to 14 years old are subject to violent discipline in their own homes. Emotional abuse is the most common form, affecting 46% of minors, followed by physical punishment, which impacts 38%.
Likewise, sexual violence and bullying present critical figures. Almost one in five women in the region reports having suffered sexual violence before turning 18, while one in four adolescents ages 13 to 17 experience bullying or harassment at school.
The document also warns about the new frontiers of aggression, pointing out that violence is increasingly manifested in digital environments.
“Violence has a profound and lasting impact on the physical and mental health of children and adolescents, and violates their right to grow up in safe environments,” said Jarbas Barbosa, director of PAHO, who highlighted the key role of health services in early identification and support for survivors.
Against this backdrop, PAHO and UNICEF urge governments to strengthen child protection laws and guarantee effective control of firearms, in addition to supporting parents and caregivers for parenting based on respect, training police and social workers, and creating safe learning environments.
«We know how to end violence. In Latin America and the Caribbean, solid and sustained public policies are required that prevent and respond to violence in all its forms so that each boy and girl can grow up in a safe environment,” remarked the regional director of Unicef.
*Journalism in Venezuela is carried out in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments in place to punish the word, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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