Colombia’s coroner’s office reported 11,333 cases of sexual violence perpetrated against children and adolescents between January and September of this year.
3,106 of the cases were perpetrated against children between the ages of 5 and 9, and in 5,097 of the cases the victims were between 10 to 14 years old.
Young girls were far more likely than boys to be victims of sexual violence: 9,423 of the victims were girls whereas only 1,910 cases reported violence against young boys.
According to the report, family members were the most likely perpetrators of sexual violence against children, with 4,277 of the cases committed by someone related to the child.
Only 15 of the cases were reportedly perpetrated by members of armed forces and there were no reports directly implicating illegally armed groups, although according to humanitarian rights groups, armed rebels and paramilitaries in Colombia have used sexual abuse systematically in past conflicts as a weapon of war.
MORE: Sexual violence employed methodically in Colombia’s armed conflict
Sources
- Medicina Legal entrega cifras alarmantes sobre violencia en menores (CM&)
- Violencia Sexual en niños, niñas y adolescentes – Colombia, enero a septiembre 2013* (estadística directa)
