Millions of adolescent girls will be victims of abuse from partners
The abuse will happen before they reach the age of twenty, reports the World Health Organisation.
Many teen girls will be exposed to abuse from their intimate partners. This has been revealed in a report by the World Health Organisation.
'Among adolescent girls who have been in a relationship, nearly a quarter (24%) – close to 19-million – will have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence by the time they turn 20 years old,' states the report.
READ: Yelling at children equal to sexual and physical abuse, says study
Dr Pascale Allotey, Director of WHO’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research Department, said the stats are alarming.
“Intimate partner violence is starting alarmingly early for millions of young women around the world,” said Dr Pascale.
“Given that violence during these critical formative years can cause profound and lasting harms, it needs to be taken more seriously as a public health issue – with a focus on prevention and targeted support,” the Dr added.
READ: Phaahla: Alarming rise in mental health cases among youth
According to the report, the worst affected regions of violence against adolescent girls are Oceania (47%) and central sub-Saharan Africa (40%), while the lowest rates are in central Europe (10%) and central Asia (11%).
“The study shows that to end gender-based violence, countries need to have policies and programmes in place that increase equality for women and girls,” said study author Dr Lynnmarie Sardinha, Technical Officer for Violence Against Women Data and Measurement at WHO.
“This means ensuring secondary education for all girls, securing gender-equal property rights and ending harmful practices such as child marriage, which are often underpinned by the same inequitable gender norms that perpetuate violence against women and girls,” added Dr Lynnmarie.
READ: Use of alcohol and e-cigarettes among youth 'alarming': WHO
In May, AFP reported that more than 300-million children a year are victims of online sexual exploitation and abuse.
The report was based on research done at the University of Edinburgh which found that one in eight of the world's children have been victims of non-consensual taking, sharing, and exposure to sexual images and video in the past 12 months.
Read how you can protect your child from online abuse - Parents need to protect children when online, says Lamprecht.
READ: 1,300 new cases of HIV in adolescent girls every week as SA teen pregnancies soar
If you suspect that your teen is a victim of sexual abuse, read this article - Sexual abuse: Victim shares signs parents can look out for.
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