79 million girls, women assaulted in sub-Saharan Africa, Unicef ​​says

• Sexual violence against children is a stigma, says Unicef ​​chief.
• Sexual violence has “affected” 370 million girls, women worldwide.
• “It’s scary,” says Maksud, a regional specialist on child abuse.

NAIROBI: More than 79 million women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa have been raped and sexually assaulted as children, according to figures presented by Unicef ​​on Thursday.

The UN children’s agency said newly compiled data showed the region was among the worst places in the world to be a girl.

Globally, Unicef ​​estimates that sexual violence has affected around 370 million girls and women, with around one in five in the sub-Saharan country experiencing sexual assault or rape before the age of 18.

“Sexual violence against children is a stain on our moral conscience,” said UNICEF Executive Director Kathryn Russell.

The release of such a number is the first to be calculated using national data and international survey programs from 2010 to 2022, said Claudia Cappa, Unicef’s chief statistician.

He said there were inevitable holes in the data, as well as insufficient reporting from some countries.

“We know the limitations, but we also wanted to finally give visibility to the issue through numbers,” he said AFP.

“It’s scary,” said Nankali Maksud, a Nairobi-based regional expert on child violence. AFP. “It’s generations of trauma.”

The resulting trauma has wide-ranging implications for development.

“We put a lot of energy into pushing girls to school, but a girl who has been raped or sexually assaulted cannot learn,” Maksud said.

The numbers are higher in areas affected by conflict and insecurity.

Aid groups in Sudan have warned of the dangers to girls and women from the ongoing conflict there.

“Children in fragile environments are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence,” Russell said.

“We witness horrific sexual violence in conflict zones, where rape and gender-based violence are often used as weapons of war.”

First responders told Human Rights Watch earlier this year that the number of reported cases is only a fraction of the true number, with most survivors unable or unwilling to seek emergency care.