Lancet study estimates over 30% girls, 13% boys in India sexually violated before age 18
New Delhi: Over 30 percent of girls and 13 percent of boys in India experienced sexual violence before turning 18 years old in 2023, according to an analysis published in The Lancet journal.
Estimating the prevalence of sexual violence against children in over 200 countries between 1990 and 2023, the study found that the highest rates were recorded in south Asia for girls -- ranging from 9.3 percent in Bangladesh to 30.8 percent in India.
Around the world, about one in five girls and one in seven boys are estimated to experience sexual violence before turning 18.
Researchers, including those from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, US, also found that sub-Saharan Africa had the highest rates of sexual violence among boys aged under 18, varying from about eight percent in Zimbabwe to 28 percent in Côte d'Ivoire.
Sexual violence against children is a critical public health and human rights issue.
Consequences of sexual abuse affect one's long-term health by raising their risk of mental health conditions.
The researchers said that accurate global estimates of sexual violence are important for targeted prevention and advocacy efforts.
However, existing studies present estimates for a limited number of countries and are hindered by data sparsity and measurement challenges, they said.
This study -- one of the first to provide global estimates -- reviewed publicly available repositories for data on the prevalence of sexual violence against children.
"We estimate that the global age-standardised prevalence of SVAC (sexual violence against children) was 18.9 percent for females and 14.8 percent for males in 2023," the authors wrote.
The team also said that the first exposure to sexual violence among teens and young adults before age 18 occurred for nearly 70 percent of the world's men and women.
The authors also found "persistent data gaps", for which they stressed on expanded surveys and surveillance programmes.
They also called for more services and systems in place to support survivors of sexual violence for the rest of their lives and creating childhoods free of sexual violence.
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7 held for running fake call centre in South Kolkata
Kolkata (PTI): Seven people were arrested from the Parnashree area in the southern part of the city for allegedly running a fake call centre, a police officer said on Saturday.
Acting on a tip-off, police raided a house on Netaji Subhas Road on Friday night and found the fake call centre operating from the ground floor, he said.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused had set up a bogus company using forged documents and posed as employees of an antivirus firm to call citizens in the US, the officer said.
"The callers would gain the trust of victims and then use remote access to take control of their phones or other digital devices. The accused allegedly siphoned off large sums of money, running into millions of dollars, from victims' accounts," he said.
Five laptops, two WiFi routers, six mobile phones and four headsets were seized from the accused, he said, adding that the seven are being questioned to ascertain the full extent of the racket and to identify others involved.
