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Abstract
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Adolescents are often considered the forgotten demographic in public health and social policy. They may be particularly vulnerable to certain types of violence owing to simultaneous risks of violence from caregivers and intimate partners and their unique physiology, particularly the rapid brain development that is a hallmark of adolescence. Chronic exposure to the toxic stress of violence during youth can have severe consequences across the lifespan such as poor mental health, sexual and reproductive health problems, and chronic disease. While the global burden of violence in youth is high, impacting 1 billion children and adolescents each year, countries are beginning to prioritize prevention, and many government officials acknowledge the need for scale-up. Of 155 countries assessed, 56% reported some national support for implementing evidence-based violence prevention and response for children and adolescents, but just 25% considered their support adequate to reach all in need.
In 2016, the World Health Organization and key stakeholders released INSPIRE: Seven strategies for ending violence against children, an evidence-based technical package for preventing and responding to violence against children and adolescents. These strategies include implementation and enforcement of laws; norms and values; safe environments; parent and caregiver support; income and economic strengthening; response and support services, and education and life skills. INSPIRE equips governments and stakeholders to prioritize investment into evidence-based approaches with the potential for the largest impact in fiscally strained environments. Well-designed INSPIRE programs have achieved violence reductions of 20%-50%.
History provides clear evidence that violence against children, adolescents, and women increases during crises. The COVID-19 pandemic will likely follow this pattern. With communities under lockdown and economic uncertainty increasing family stress, adolescents may be more vulnerable than ever to violence. It is valuable to look to prepandemic data to provide insights into the dangers adolescents already faced in the places they were supposed to be safest. Across countries with Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys, physical violence by a caregiver before the age of 18 years ranged from 7% to 49%. Furthermore, at least 1 in twenty (5%) and almost 1 in two 13- to 17-year-old adolescents (45%) witnessed physical violence at home in the past 12 months. Among 18- to 24-year-old victims of sexual violence before the age of 18 years, the first incident was most commonly during the age of 16-17 and often occurred at home (16%-43%) (Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys with one or more data points represented within these ranges: Botswana, Cambodia, Colombia, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Laos PDR, Uganda, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.). These data highlight the unique vulnerabilities of adolescents as they remain susceptible to family violence and also face increasing risks sexual violence...
Language: en |