Over 79 million girls raped and sexually abused in sub-Saharan Africa: UN | Sexual Assault News

According to a UNICEF report, more than 370 million girls worldwide have been subjected to sexual violence before the age of 18.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, one in eight girls and young women worldwide have suffered rape and sexual violence, with the highest number of victims recorded in sub-Saharan Africa.

UNICEF released its first global estimate of sexual violence against children, finding that 79 million girls – one in five – in sub-Saharan countries affected by conflict and insecurity had experienced sexual assault or rape before the age of 18.

“It’s frightening,” said Nankali Maksud, a child violence specialist at UNICEF based in Nairobi, Kenya. “It’s a generational trauma.”

Girls who have suffered the trauma of sexual abuse are often unable to study in school, she said.

According to UNICEF estimates, around 370 million – or one in eight – girls and young women worldwide are affected by sexual violence.

The number rises to 650 million, or a fifth, when “non-contact” forms of sexual violence such as online or verbal violence are taken into account, according to the agency’s report published on Wednesday.

The report says that while girls and women are most affected, 240 to 310 million boys and men, or about one in eleven, experienced rape or sexual assault in their childhood.

“Sexual violence against children is a stain on our moral conscience,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

“It causes deep and lasting trauma, often at the hands of someone the child knows and trusts, in places where they should feel safe,” she said.

The numbers were highest in “fragile environments,” including those with weak institutions, where UN peacekeepers are present or where there are large numbers of refugees.

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

However, the data showed that sexual violence against children is widespread and extends across geographical, cultural and economic boundaries.

The highest number of victims were in sub-Saharan Africa with 79 million girls and women affected, followed by 75 million in East and Southeast Asia, 73 million in Central and South Asia, 68 million in Europe and North America and 45 million in Latin America and the Caribbean. 29 million in North Africa and Western Asia and 6 million in Oceania.

The publication of such a figure is a first, calculated using national data and international survey programs from 2010 to 2022, said Claudia Cappa, UNICEF chief statistician.

She said there were inevitable gaps in the data and under-reporting from some countries.