In virtually all parts of the world, violent incidents against children are on the increase.
Between 500 million and 1.5 billion children suffer violence, according to UNICEF’s 2011 “The State of the World’s Children.”
According to the report, approximately 1.5 million children between 5 and 14 are involved in child labor; 1.2 million children have been trafficked each year since 2000; 1 million children are detained through justice processes; 18 million children are living with the effects of displacement; and 70 million females in 29 countries, many of them young girls, have experienced female genital mutilation or cutting.
Further complicating a terrible picture for children in the world, child soldiers are a norm in several countries. A child soldier is “any person under 18 years of age who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity.”
Children were actively involved in armed conflict in government forces or nonstate armed groups in 19 countries or territories between 2004 and 2007, according to Human Rights Watch’s 2008 “Child Soldiers Global Report.” The report estimates that “Child soldiers exist in all regions of the world.”
For several decades, the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) has sought to lead Baptists to be fully engaged in the quest to end violence against children. The BWA has given direct and indirect assistance to combat this scourge through Baptist World Aid, such as through resettlement programs for displaced persons, refugee assistance, post-conflict healing and reconciliation programs, and assistance for war orphans.
The BWA, in a 2002 resolution, lamented “that a large percentage of the world’s children suffer various forms of violence,” and encouraged Christians to “support policies ending abusive practices against children” and “make themselves more aware of the harsh and apparently unloving world into which many children are born.” (BWA)
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