More than 370 million girls and women alive worldwide, or one in eight, have been raped or sexually assaulted before the age of 18, according to the United Nations Children's Fund.

 


If "non-touch" sexual violence is also taken into account, the number rises to 650 million or one in five, UNICEF said in a report on Wednesday. 'No-touch' sexual violence includes online or verbal sexual harassment.

 

UNICEF says this is the first global survey on the problem of sexual violence.

 

According to the organization's report, women and girls are the most affected by these incidents, but 24 to 31 million boys and men have experienced rape and sexual harassment as children.

 

"The scale of these human rights violations is extremely high," UNICEF said when releasing the report. Due to limited investment in data collection, challenges in assessing incidents and fear of stigma, the full extent of these breaches is difficult to grasp.”

 


UNICEF released the report ahead of the opening of the World Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children next month in Colombia, South America.

 


The agency says the findings from its survey highlight the urgent need for stronger global initiatives to help children report and identify sexual violence and take steps to strengthen laws.

 


UNICEF says sexual violence transcends geographic, cultural and economic boundaries.

 

According to the report, the highest number of girls and women victims of rape and sexual harassment are in countries south of the Sahara desert. Seventy-nine million girls and women in the region were victims of sexual violence, or 22 percent had experienced such experiences.

 

Then there is East and Southeast Asia. Here, the number of girls and women under the influence of rape and sexual harassment is 75 million or 8 percent of the women and girls of the region have gone through such experiences.

 

In Central and South Asia the number is 73 million or 9 percent, in Europe and North America 68 million or 14 percent, in Latin America and the Caribbean 45 million or 18 percent.

 

29 million or 15 percent in North Africa and West Asia and 6 million in Oceania, but 34 percent of girls and women have been victims of rape and sexual harassment in proportion to the population.


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