UNICEF calls for urgent action as millions of girls face sexual violence

PORT MORESBY, 11 October 2024 – UNICEF is urging Papua New Guinean authorities to intensify efforts to end violence against children, as new global data reveals that one in eight girls experience rape or sexual assault during childhood.

The shocking results come as the United Nations observes International Day of the Girl Child (also known as International Girls’ Day), with this year’s theme being Girls’ Vision for the Future.

National data shows the situation in PNG is even more alarming, with 56% (six out of 10) of adolescent girls reporting physical violence and 28% (three out of 10) reporting sexual violence. Furthermore, one in five women in PNG report that their first experience of sex was rape.
UNICEF PNG Representative Angela Kearney said the findings highlight the pressing need for increased prevention, awareness and community engagement, support services and access to justice to prevent and response to violence against children, girls and women in PNG.

“Violence against children is a grave human rights violation,” Kearney said, adding that many victims endure lasting physical and emotional scars. “Girls are at significant risk, often at the hands of those they know and trust,” Kearney said. “We need immediate and concerted action from all sectors of society, to commit to end violence against children,” she said.

UNICEF’s findings indicate that globally childhood sexual violence is widespread during adolescence, with a marked increase in cases between ages 14 and 17. Survivors often carry trauma into adulthood, leading to health complications, mental health challenges, substance abuse, learning disabilities and difficulties in forming healthy relationships.

UNICEF PNG Chief of Child Protection Paula Vargas emphasised the importance of preventive and early intervention in breaking the cycle of abuse and helping survivors to heal, such as positive parenting programs. “The risks for children in fragile settings, including those in areas with weak institutional support or frequent conflict, are especially concerning in PNG.”

As UNICEF and the Government of PNG are preparing to participate in the first ever Global Ministerial Conference on Violence Against Children, taking place in the Colombian capital
Bogotá next month, Vargas calls for a stronger collective effort and raise awareness of this silence emergency inside our homes, our schools and institutions.

“Government, civil society organisations, faith-based organisations, development partners, universities, community leaders and the private sector need to raise their voices, commit and act to end violence against children,” according to Vargas. She said it was “time to challenge and change social and cultural norms that enable sexual violence and violence against children”, and to “strengthen communities and families to protect and care for the children of PNG”.

Vargas stressed the need for every child to have access to accurate, accessible, and age-appropriate information that empowers them to recognise and report sexual violence and to “ensure that every child victim and survivor can access to justice, child protection and health services and to reduce the risk of further harm”. “UNICEF will continue supporting PNG to strengthen the legal and policy framework to protect children from all forms of violence, including sexual violence. We will also help build better national data systems to monitor progress and ensure accountability by implementing international standards,” Vargas said.

Kearney said it was “our collective responsibility to ensure that every child is protected and supported”. “No child should grow up in fear, and we must act now to end the violence.”