Violence Against Children Around the World Has Reached New Extremes
More than a billion children are exposed to violence each year. In Honduras, young people live in neighborhoods torn apart by gang violence. In India, girls are sold to cotton farmers as laborers. And in Mozambique, children are homeless as a result of devastating cyclones. Before age 16, near nearly one in every four children around the world will experience a traumatic event that “threatens or causes harm to his or her emotional and physical well-being.” Without intervention, children that experience or witness abuse,
exploitation, neglect, and violence are irreversibly changed. Adverse childhood experiences can cause significant and lasting damage to the psychological, biological and emotional health of young people.