New Delhi, 8 May (IANS). New Delhi, 8 May (IANS). Around the world, one in almost every five years and older women and one in every seven men have faced sexual violence by or before the age of 15. This information is given in a study published in a journal called ‘The Lancet’.
This research is conducted by the ‘Institute for Health Metrix and Evolution (IHME)’ of the University of Washington, USA. It found that 67 percent of women and 72 percent of men were sexually abused for the first time when they were younger than 18 years.
About 42 percent of women and 48 percent of men reported that sexual violence with them was before the age of 16. Even more worrying is that 8 percent of women and 14 percent of men had to suffer sexual violence before 12 years.
Dr. Emmanla Gakidu, senior writer of this study and Professor of IHME, said, “Sexual violence against children is a serious human rights and public health problem. The world is failing to stop it. It is very worrying to exploit so many children at such a young age. All countries will have to make stringent laws, correct policies and effective work systems as soon as possible.
The study is based on research called ‘Global Burden of Disease’, in which data from 204 countries and areas have been collected from 1990 to 2023.
Dr. Luisa Floor, Assistant Professor of IHME, said, “People suffering from sexual violence in childhood are more likely to have problems like depression, anxiety, drug addiction, sexual infection and even asthma. This violence also affects their social behavior, studies and future economic conditions. So it is necessary to stop and help the victims.”
The study also revealed that many countries do not get the right data related to sexual violence and the methods of collecting data are also different. Especially in low and moderate income countries, there is a need to work in this direction.
If we create a uniform and better system to monitor sexual violence against children, then it will help to understand why people do not report such incidents and what kind of assistance they should get. This will make better policies for the safety of children.
-IANS
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