United Nations: More than 370 million girls and women alive today have been subjected to sexual violence before age 18, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Thursday.
“More than 370 million girls and women alive today – or 1 in 8 – experienced rape or sexual assault before the age of 18,” the organisation said in a statement on the occasion of the International Day of the Girl.
If “non-contact” forms of sexual violence, such as online violence or verbal abuse, are included, the number of girls and women affected worldwide will be 650 million, or one in five, the statement read.
The largest number of victims is in sub-Saharan Africa, where 79 million girls and women have been affected, the statement said. It is followed by East and South-East Asia with 75 million victims, Central and South Asia with 73 million, Europe and North America with 68 million, Latin America and the Caribbean with 45 million, North Africa and West Asia with 29 million and Oceania with 6 million.
At the same time, an estimated 240 to 310 million boys and men – or about one in 11 – have been victims of rape or sexual abuse as children, the organisation added. This number rises to 410 to 530 million if “non-contact” forms of abuse are included.
