 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
 |
|||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sexual Health Exchange, 1998 - no. 1 Prevalence of, and attitudes towards, abuse: a selection of reports Worldwide Pino Arlacchi, Director General of the United Nations Bureau in Vienna, Austria, announced in November 1997 that about 200 million people worldwide have been forced to live as sexual or economic slaves. In Southeast Asia, 60-70 million women and children have been coerced into sexual slavery during the past 10 years. AFP/Beijing95 e-mail list UNAIDS, in the context of the 1997 World AIDS Day campaign "Children living in a world with AIDS", reported that more than one milli UNICEF's 1997 Progress of Nations report stated that more than 60 million women who should still be alive are "missing" because of gender-based violence, predominantly in South and West Asia, China and North Africa. Of the 193 countries in the world, only 44 have enacted laws against domestic violence, only 27 have laws against sexual harassment and only 17 have laws that define marital rape as a crime. The Australian Department of Corrective Services runs Sexual Assault Services in New South Wales for men who have become victims of forced sexual activities USA A nationwide survey among 6748 adolescents by the Commonwealth Fund found that 25% of the girls had been physically or sexually abused or forced to have sex against their will; 12% of the secondary school and 8% of the primary school boys had experienced physical abuse. The abused girls were much more likely to be depressed or to engage in risky health behaviours. Tamar Lewin, "Sexual abuse tied to 1 in 4 teenage girls", New York Times, 1 October 1997 Germany Study results released by the government in September 1997 revealed that one in seven women are sexually harassed or raped at least once in their lives but 5% of them report the crime to police. Of the suspects, 52% are finally charged. Moreover, trials generally begin two years after the crime takes place. AFP/Beijing95 e-mail list Egypt In early 1997, the government's National Population Centre conducted a survey among 7000 married women aged 15-49 years. It showed that 35% of the respondents had been beaten at least once by their husbands, nearly 70% after refusing sex; 7.3% were pregnant. About 70% of the women surveyed said that such treatment was justified if a woman spoke to her husband "in an improper way"; 64% said a beating was justified for talking to another man or neglecting children; 51% for spending too much on food; 27% for burning dinner, and 86% for refusing sex. Another poll by the National Population Council indicated that about 80% of Egyptian women consider female genital mutilation (female circumcision) a positive tradition; 97% of married women polled had undergone some degree of the procedure to remove some or all external sex organs. Muslim authorities have emphasized that the mutilations are a custom that has nothing to do with Islam. UPI and the alAhram newspaper South Africa The Gauteng provincial police commissioner responsible for Johannesburg reported in March 1997 that crimes of rape had increased overall by nearly 20% between 1994 and 1996. Almost 1000 rapes occur monthly, including 10 children who are raped or molested every day. A Safety and Security official said that this increase may be because people are now more comfortable in reporting rape to the police; the figures, however, indicate a need for measures including education in schools and unambiguous judicial punishments. Sapa/Streetkid e-mail list Swaziland: abuse of street boys A recent study, conducted by the Swaziland Association of Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of Offenders, revealed that children move to the streets primarily because of socioeconomic hardships experienced by their families. However, some give reasons such as physical abuse by their parents or stepparents, like Sandile Mamba, 14 years, who left home because his alcoholic father used to beat him and his mother. The study further found that street children are often abused. A police spokesman said that old men sodomize boys (often as young as 9-13 years) who are offered glue to keep them in "high" spirits during the act. About 15 street boys around Mbabane are reported to have been treated for STDs apparently acquired during such acts of sexual abuse. Vuyisile Hlatshwayo, Africa Information Afrique, 21 August 21 1997/Streetkid e-mail list Brazil A survey carried out by UNESCO in 1997 for the Federal District of Brasilia among middle-class youth aged 14-20 years (91% students) revealed their attitudes towards violence. Questioned about violence towards particular groups, 42% said it is serious to humiliate transvestites while 27% believed it is normal; 45% answered that it was serious to humiliate prostitutes and 26% replied that it is normal. The humiliation of homosexuals was considered serious by 41% and normal by 25%. SEJUP/Streetkid e-mail list Croatia On 25 November 1997, the Deputy Prime Minister reported that wife-beating had increased by 11% from 1996. Many women do not report the violence or defend themselves in court due to a lack of money. A centre for battered women in Zagreb has helped 850 women since its opening in 1990 but has had to turn away another 2000 women. Psychological and other problems stemming from the recent war are blamed for the increase in domestic violence. RFE/RL, Inc./Beijing95-L e-mail list
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
on children enter the sex trade every year, most of them girls aged 13-18 years. The programme noted that although child prostitution has long existed, the demand for child sexual partners may be growing because of fears of AIDS, e.g., some men reportedly seek out children since they believe the youngsters are less likely to be infected with HIV than adults. Children who are not fully grown can more easily suffer damage by penetrative sex, which makes it easier for the virus to infect them.
|