An increase in child abuse cases is a cause of alarm in all of South America. In answer to this, Paraguay launched the “Todos Somos Resposables” / “Responsibility Falls on All of Us” campaign, with the support of the Ministry for Children’s Wellbeing, and focused on the damage that indifference towards child abuse causes.
Child Abuse Cases are on the Rise
Girls are the most likely to fall victim to child abuse, which translates to an increase of child mothers, according to statistics published by Paraguay’s government’s National Child Abuse and Molestation Delegation.
Faced with this reality, Paraguay launched the Responsibility Falls on all of Us campaign, which aims to raise people’s awareness regarding the importance of reporting child abuse cases.
In the year’s first three months, 38 girls and teenagers ended up pregnant, victims of child abuse. In every case, the aggressors came from the victim’s immediate surrounding: boyfriends, step-fathers, biological fathers, neighbors, uncles and brothers, among others.
One of the consequences of child abuse is very young girls becoming mothers. For this reason, the government is aiming to open more Children’s Protection Centers.
Likewise, experts took to the streets, where they reviewed around 9.658 different cases, in which 4.460 boys, girls and teenagers were found to be in vulnerable situations, where they could fall prey to child abuse.
Alongside Paraguay, Mexico spearheads the list of South American countries with more child abuse reports, with every year seeing around 4,5 million children fall victim to said crimes. When taking into consideration the amount of times the crime goes unreported due to fear, it is easy to see how the situation is reaching critical points.
Responsibility falls on all of us
This awareness campaign regarding the importance of reporting child abuse cases also establishes a prevention plan, which consists in informing the people about what signs to look out for when it comes to relationships between children and adults.
Paraguay’s government hopes this campaign helps raise awareness and make people overcome whatever indifference they may feel towards crimes against children, reminding everyone that responsibility falls on all of us.
A government spokesman also added that some of the studied cases have included “consensual relationships” between an adult and a young girl or teenager. Such a thing is impossible, and all such situations should be considered and reported as the crimes they are.
The #ResponsibilityFallsOnAllOfUs campaign was launched in January and includes informational videos made by the Ministry itself, with the help of important media people with interest in the matter.
