site.btaBulgaria Has No Institution to Analyse All Data on Child Victims

November 18 is the World Day for the Prevention of and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Violence. Every year, more than 1 billion children around the world experience violence - an act likened to a pandemic whose manifestations do not take into account the country, society, ethnic or religious group or social status of the child or family, the National Network for Children (NMD) said in a release on the occasion.

NMD has reviewed the reports of violence against children in the country and describes the negative consequences in psychological, social and economic terms.

The harmful demographic, health, educational, social and economic consequences of violence against children have been scientifically proven. These include addictions, sexually transmitted diseases, diseases related to the reproductive, nervous, endocrine, respiratory and musculoskeletal systems, etc. Along with this, violence against children is transmitted from generation to generation. According to data, 95% of child abusers have been abused, 80% of child substance abusers have also been abused, 95% of child prostitutes have been sexually abused, and 78% of those in prison have experienced some form of violence in their childhood, the release says.

Child abuse also has clear economic consequences. The loss in global GDP ranges between 3.5 and 7%, and the phenomenon is far from unique to developing countries, but also to high-income countries, where between 4 and 16% of children are physically abused annually, and around 10% are neglected.

In Bulgaria, one in two children is a victim of some form of violence before the age of 18. The figures are from a UNICEF 2021 study, and the paradox is that there is no Bulgarian institution that knows how many children are actually victims of violence, even though the collection of data is statutorily enshrined in national legislation, NMD points out.

Because of the fragmented statistics, Bulgaria's policies to tackle the problem remain ineffective, and attempts to look at the figures in totality, analyse trends and identify measures are doomed to failure. NMD has repeatedly pointed out in official documents and recommendations possible solutions to integrate data into a common framework, analysis and policies to combat violence against children.

The National Network for Children is this country's largest alliance of 130 civil society organisations and activists working on behalf of children in Bulgaria. More than 200,000 Bulgarian children and over 100,000 families receive support from the NGO every year.