UNICEF report finds more than 370 million girls worldwide have faced sexual violence before the age of 18.
The United Nations children’s agency says one in eight girls and young women across the world have endured rape and sexual violence, with the highest number of victims recorded in sub-Saharan Africa.
UNICEF published its first-ever global estimate on sexual violence against children, revealing that 79 million girls – one in five – in sub-Saharan countries hit by conflict and insecurity had experienced sexual assault or rape before turning 18.
“It’s terrifying,” said Nankali Maksud, a child violence specialist at UNICEF based in Nairobi, Kenya. “It is generations of trauma.”
Girls who had suffered the trauma of sexual abuse were often unable to learn at school, she said.
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