violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

292Violence against children in the communityof the girls and 16% of the boys in Namibia,6% of the girls and 8% of the boys in Swaziland,and 18% of the girls and 23% of the boysin Zambia (see Figure 7.1). 38A 2001 study of intermediate and secondaryschool students in the USA (75% of themunder the age of 18) found similarly high levelsof physical violence, and also psychologicalviolence. It also found that physical violencerarely occurred in the absence of psychologicalviolence, such as name-calling, insults, swearing,and threats of physical violence. 39The International Dating Violence Study,conducted at 31 universities in 16 countriesacross Asia, Latin America, the Middle Eastand North America, found a high prevalenceof physical violence perpetrated by both malesand females against their dating partners (17%to 38% of males and 17% to 48% of females). 40Although this study surveyed young adults(mean age: 22 years), the findings point tothe reality that intimate relationships amongyoung adults and adolescents worldwide arecharacterised by high levels of aggression.Sexual violenceSexual violence against children can have a devastatingimpact on both physical and mentalhealth, and can lead to suicide, HIV infection,or murder of the victim in the case of ‘honourkillings’. 41 Far too often, the violence is carriedout with total impunity for the perpetrator.Coerced first sexFor many adolescents, the first experienceof sexual intercourse is unwanted or activelycoerced; Figure 7.2 shows the prevalence offorced sexual initiation reported in studiesfrom several countries, and illustrates theextent of sexual violence among adolescents.Outside child marriage (see the chapter onviolence against children in the home andfamily), much of this initial sexual coercion isperpetrated by peers, including in the contextof an intimate relationship.Research indicates that the younger the age ofsexual initiation, the more likely that it wascoerced in some way. 42,43,44,45 This is particularlytrue for girls, who face a greater risk of forcedfirst sex than boys. The WHO’s Multi-CountryStudy on Women’s Health and DomesticViolence against Women found that womenreporting first sex before the age of 17 weremore likely to report forced sexual initiationthan women who reported later sexual initiation.Of women who reported first sex prior toage 15, between 11% and 45 % reported thatit was forced. 46In addition to forced sexual initiation, manychildren experience ongoing sexual coercionfrom boyfriends or girlfriends (see Table 7.2).While available studies suggest that physicalviolence in intimate relationships (seeabove) occurs at similar rates for girls andboys, girls are at much greater risk than boysof sexual violence within intimate and datingrelationships. 47 One study of sexual coercionamong young people in Kenya found that forfemales who had experienced sexual coercion,