Global Prevalence of Past-year Violence Against Children: A Systematic Review and Minimum Estimates

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Pediatrics
• Personal Author:
  Hillis, Susan ; Mercy, James ; Amobi, Adaugo ; Kress, Howard
• Description:
  CONTEXT:
  
  Evidence confirms associations between childhood violence and major causes of mortality in adulthood. A synthesis of data on past-year prevalence of violence against children will help advance the United Nations’ call to end all violence against children.
  
  OBJECTIVES:
  
  Investigators systematically reviewed population-based surveys on the prevalence of past-year violence against children and synthesized the best available evidence to generate minimum regional and global estimates.
  
  DATA SOURCES:
  
  We searched Medline, PubMed, Global Health, NBASE, CINAHL, and the World Wide Web for reports of representative surveys estimating prevalences of violence against children.
  
  STUDY SELECTION:
  
  Two investigators independently assessed surveys against inclusion criteria and rated those included on indicators of quality.
  
  DATA EXTRACTION:
  
  Investigators extracted data on past-year prevalences of violent victimization by country, age group, and type (physical, sexual, emotional, or multiple types). We used a triangulation approach which synthesized data to generate minimum regional prevalences, derived from population-weighted averages of the country-specific prevalences.
  
  RESULTS:
  
  Thirty-eight reports provided quality data for 96 countries on past-year prevalences of violence against children. Base case estimates showed a minimum of 50% or more of children in Asia, Africa, and Northern America experienced past-year violence, and that globally over half of all children—1 billion children, ages 2–17 years—experienced such violence.
  
  LIMITATIONS:
  
  Due to variations in timing and types of violence reported, triangulation could only be used to generate minimum prevalence estimates.
  
  CONCLUSIONS:
  
  Expanded population-based surveillance of violence against children is essential to target prevention and drive the urgent investment in action endorsed in the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
  
  
• Keywords:
  Child Child Abuse Crime Victims Global Health Humans Population Surveillance Violence
• Source:
  Pediatrics. 137(3):e20154079
• Pubmed ID:
  26810785
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC6496958
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  137
• Issue:
  3
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:f112a5925d7de028f06a2241d1b2c19ea39093ed2f01259e237258418c709b32
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/78325/cdc_78325_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 486.49 KB ]