Violence against children in Afghanistan: Child, family, and community insights

Background Decades of conflict has eroded the physical and social fabric of Afghanistan, adversely impacting the entire population. These conditions are known to increase the likelihood of violence against children. It is... [ view full abstract ]

Background
Decades of conflict has eroded the physical and social fabric of Afghanistan, adversely impacting the entire population. These conditions are known to increase the likelihood of violence against children. It is difficult to ascertain the extent of violence against children, as official reporting does not exist, and much of the research has been done retrospectively often with refugees. The aim of this study was to ascertain violence against children prevalence measures in three regions of Afghanistan.

Methods
Structured interviews were used in population-based random sample of children, parents, community and religious leaders, and professional groups from Kabul, Jalalabad and Torkham. Demographic information was collected as well as items from the International Child Abuse Screening Tool (ICAST-CH). Questions related to their knowledge and experience of violence against children. The statistical significance of differences between groups and measures of association were assessed by Pearson’s chi-squared test, Mann-Whitney test and Kruskall-Wallis one-way ANOVA.

Results
A total 456 interviews were conducted, including 170 children. Almost 70% of the households from Jalalabad had 8 or more children, compared with 25.0% in Torkham and less than 2% in Kabul (p<0.0001). 78 % of children reported being a victim of violence recently, most often violence occurred in the home. Over a quarter of the children interviewed reported having never attended any formal schooling and 88.5% of children were working. Prevalence and group differences in child and adult knowledge and experience of physical, psychological, sexual abuse and exploitation in the home, school, workplace and community settings will be presented.

Conclusions
The results are important given the lack of empirical data currently available on violence against children in Afghanistan. Such data can be used to inform targeted community interventions to better detect, prevent and protect vulnerable children from exploitation and violence.