UNICEF warns one in eight girls worldwide about rape or sexual assault

A new report from the United Nations Children’s Fund finds that one in eight girls alive today – about 370 million people – will experience rape or sexual assault before the age of 18. This shocking figure is even worse for girls living in so-called fragile environments such as refugee camps or conflict zones, where one in four are exposed to sexual violence. UNICEF Chief executive Catherine Russell called the findings a “stain on our moral conscience” and warned that rape and gender-based violence were often used as weapons of war.