RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In Brazil, 67 percent of boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 12 do not feel sufficiently protected against violence, while the world average is 40 percent, according to a ChildFund Brasil study released on Wednesday, October 9th.
The survey is a part of the worldwide Small Voices, Big Dreams 2019 survey, conducted in 15 countries with 5,500 children aged 10 to 12 .
In Brazil, ChildFund Brasil interviewed 722 boys and girls from the states of Minas Gerais, Ceará, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Amazonas, Piauí, Bahia, and Goiás and found that 90 percent of the boys and girls interviewed reject physical violence as an educational tool. In the global survey, the percentage was 69 percent.
Regarding children’s perception of the actions of politicians and governments to protect children from violence, less than three percent of children believe that these authorities are fulfilling their role, against 18.1 percent in the world.
For Águeda Barreto, Advocacy and Communication Advisor for ChildFund Brasil, children need to be heard to know how to improve public policies, offering attention, support and affection and acknowledging their rights.
“In socially vulnerable regions of Brazil, it is evident that there are more aggravating aspects in relation to the practice of abuse. Understanding all aspects of violence and, above all, listening to children’s expectations and conceptions is essential to its eradication,” she says.
Source: Agência Brasil