<span id="midArticle_start"/><span id="midArticle_0"/>LONDON, June 2 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Child abuseand neglect are costing countries in East Asia and the Pacifican estimated $209 billion a year, equivalent to 2 percent of theregion's GDP, researchers said on Tuesday in the region's firststudy of the economic impact of abuse.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>Child abuse affects victims' education, long-term physicaland mental health and work performance, and increases the riskof adult aggression, violence and criminality, the researcherssaid.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>Some maltreatment is preventable. Earlier studies in theUnited States and Europe, cited by the researchers, found thatthe right forms of prevention can reduce severe forms ofmaltreatment by up to 50 percent.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>"We all know that violence against children must stopbecause it is morally wrong. This research shows that inactionabout violence results in serious economic costs to countriesand communities," the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) regionaldirector for East Asia and the Pacific, Daniel Toole, said in astatement.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>"Governments need to take urgent action to address violenceagainst children, both for the sake of the children themselvesand for the wellbeing of future generations," he added.
<span id="midArticle_5"/> <span class="first-article-divide"/>UNICEF commissioned international experts to carry out theresearch. They aggregated data from 364 previous studies ofneglect, physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and the impact ofwitnessing domestic violence, and estimated the costs involved.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>The most common form of abuse in the region is emotional,which affects 42 percent of girls in high income countries. InChina alone it affects some two thirds of children aged 3 to 6years old.
<span id="midArticle_7"/> <span class="second-article-divide"/>It also costs the most - $65.9 billion - followed byphysical and sexual abuse (costing $39.9 billion a year each),neglect ($32.4 billion), and witnessing domestic violence ($31billion).
<span id="midArticle_8"/>East Asia has one of the world's highest levels ofill-health caused by child sexual abuse.
<span id="midArticle_9"/>About one third of men and boys have experienced physicalabuse in lower middle income countries throughout the Pacificand East Asian region, and 22 percent of women and girls haveexperienced sexual abuse.
<span id="midArticle_10"/> <span class="third-article-divide"/>A separate study carried out in Cambodia recently found thatover 50 percent of children experience at least one form ofviolence before the age of 18. About a quarter of Cambodianchildren had been emotionally abused and 5 percent sexuallyabused.
<span id="midArticle_11"/>"All children have the right to live free from violence,which harms their physical and mental growth and inhibits thegrowth of their society and economies," Toole said.
<span id="midArticle_12"/>"Violence against children often takes place behind closeddoors but it is preventable when people come together and sayloudly and clearly that this is not acceptable," he added.
<span id="midArticle_13"/>The East Asian and Pacific research is published in thejournal "Child Abuse and Neglect". (Reporting by Alex Whiting, editing by Tim Pearce )
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<span id="midArticle_1"/>Child abuse affects victims' education, long-term physicaland mental health and work performance, and increases the riskof adult aggression, violence and criminality, the researcherssaid.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>Some maltreatment is preventable. Earlier studies in theUnited States and Europe, cited by the researchers, found thatthe right forms of prevention can reduce severe forms ofmaltreatment by up to 50 percent.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>"We all know that violence against children must stopbecause it is morally wrong. This research shows that inactionabout violence results in serious economic costs to countriesand communities," the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) regionaldirector for East Asia and the Pacific, Daniel Toole, said in astatement.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>"Governments need to take urgent action to address violenceagainst children, both for the sake of the children themselvesand for the wellbeing of future generations," he added.
<span id="midArticle_5"/> <span class="first-article-divide"/>UNICEF commissioned international experts to carry out theresearch. They aggregated data from 364 previous studies ofneglect, physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and the impact ofwitnessing domestic violence, and estimated the costs involved.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>The most common form of abuse in the region is emotional,which affects 42 percent of girls in high income countries. InChina alone it affects some two thirds of children aged 3 to 6years old.
<span id="midArticle_7"/> <span class="second-article-divide"/>It also costs the most - $65.9 billion - followed byphysical and sexual abuse (costing $39.9 billion a year each),neglect ($32.4 billion), and witnessing domestic violence ($31billion).
<span id="midArticle_8"/>East Asia has one of the world's highest levels ofill-health caused by child sexual abuse.
<span id="midArticle_9"/>About one third of men and boys have experienced physicalabuse in lower middle income countries throughout the Pacificand East Asian region, and 22 percent of women and girls haveexperienced sexual abuse.
<span id="midArticle_10"/> <span class="third-article-divide"/>A separate study carried out in Cambodia recently found thatover 50 percent of children experience at least one form ofviolence before the age of 18. About a quarter of Cambodianchildren had been emotionally abused and 5 percent sexuallyabused.
<span id="midArticle_11"/>"All children have the right to live free from violence,which harms their physical and mental growth and inhibits thegrowth of their society and economies," Toole said.
<span id="midArticle_12"/>"Violence against children often takes place behind closeddoors but it is preventable when people come together and sayloudly and clearly that this is not acceptable," he added.
<span id="midArticle_13"/>The East Asian and Pacific research is published in thejournal "Child Abuse and Neglect". (Reporting by Alex Whiting, editing by Tim Pearce )
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