According to a report released by UNICEF on Wednesday, over 370 million girls and women, or one in every eight worldwide, have experienced rape or sexual assault before turning 18.
When including “non-contact” forms of sexual violence, such as online or verbal abuse, the number rises to 650 million, or one in five. This report is described as the first global survey on this issue.
While girls and women are most affected, the report estimates that between 240 to 310 million boys and men, roughly one in 11, have also faced rape or sexual assault during childhood. UNICEF emphasized the overwhelming scale of this human rights violation, which is difficult to fully understand due to stigma, measurement challenges, and insufficient data collection.
The report is released ahead of the inaugural Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children, scheduled for next month in Colombia. UNICEF highlighted the urgent need for intensified global efforts, including stronger laws and assistance for children to recognize and report sexual violence.
The findings reveal that sexual violence transcends geographical, cultural, and economic boundaries, with Sub-Saharan Africa having the highest number of victims—79 million girls and women, or 22 percent of the population. Eastern and South-Eastern Asia follows with 75 million, or 8 percent affected. In Central and Southern Asia, the estimate is 73 million (9 percent); in Europe and Northern America, it’s 68 million (14 percent); in Latin America and the Caribbean, 45 million (18 percent); and in Northern Africa and Western Asia, 29 million (15 percent). Oceania has the highest percentage affected, at 34 percent, totaling 6 million.
The report found that risks of sexual violence are heightened in “fragile settings,” where one in four children may be at risk, particularly in areas with weak institutions or large refugee populations.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell described sexual violence against children as “a stain on our moral conscience,” noting that it often causes deep and lasting trauma, typically inflicted by someone the child knows and trusts in environments where they should feel safe.
Most incidents of childhood sexual violence occur during adolescence, especially between ages 14 and 17, and those affected face increased risks of sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse, and mental health issues. Delayed disclosure or keeping the abuse secret further exacerbates the impact.
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UNICEF called for greater investment in data collection to better understand the full extent of the problem, especially regarding boys’ experiences. The estimates for girls and women’s experiences are based on nationally representative surveys conducted between 2010 and 2022 across 120 countries, while estimates for boys and men were derived from a broader range of data sources using indirect methods.
