Research shows 35,000 children sexually abused

According to investigations carried out by Plan, Restrepo Barco and Renacer Foundations, there are 35 thousand children and adolescents in Colombia who are sexually abused and exploited. The research was undertaken in 11 cities in Colombia: Arjona, Malagana, Sabanagrande, Soledad, Malambo, Montería, Sincelejo, Quibdó, Medellín, Cali and Cúcuta. In each case tragic events like displacement, armed conflict, left-out communities, disintegration and damage of family environments, building-up of street gangs and poverty, are mixed, with more or less importance.

Commercial sexual abuse of boys, girls and adolescents takes place amidst a complex system of cultural, political, social and economic factors, all of them interacting among them, with local differences, but with the same result: the fundamental violation of the children’s rights. In the framework of an internal armed conflict this violation is considered a lese-mankind crime and infringement of international human rights.

On the other hand, in five of the above eleven cities, boys and girls belonging to Indian and associated Afro-Colombian ethnic groups were found to be affected by sexual abuse and exploitation.
Although in the six departments that were studied it was found that many families live with an income below the established minimum wage, the poorest communities and with inadequate income live in the Pacific Coast, where many don’t even have an economic earning. 
On the other hand, factors like the quality of life, which includes access to basic utilities, health and education services, the lack of resources, extreme poverty, as in the case of Tumaco, are closely linked to maltreatment and abuse. Armed conflict also turns to be a key element that shoots up violence and abuse figures in the areas that were considered.

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