translated from Spanish: Argentina: Ministry of Justice reported increased violence against children during quarantine

Cases of domestic and/or sexual violence against children in Argentina increased by 23% during the extensive quarantine imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, in which enclosing aggravated the vulnerability of victims. On Wednesday, the Ministry of Justice released the statistic on the basis of calls received to telephone line 137 to report these crimes. The unit detailed that growth was 28% in family violence and 13% in sexual violence.” Lack of contact and connection with their peers and reference adults (family, teachers and doctors, among others) makes it difficult to ask for help that children themselves can make, or the intervention of close people who can detect situations of abuse and require state assistance,” the authorities said. Argentina, which has recorded more than 428,000 contagions and nearly 9,000 dead, imposed quarantine on 20 March. Although many activities were made more flexible over the months, children are part of the population still in isolation as face-to-face classes are suspended in most provinces. Prior to the pandemic, UNICEF realized that in 70% of the country’s households, children were exposed to situations of violence such as screaming, insulting, zamarreos or beatings.” As long as social isolation measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic remain in place, the uninterrupted coexistence of girls and boys with whom in many cases they are their assailants increases the risk of family and gender-based violence, as well as difficulties in reporting it,” the official report warned. Another phenomenon on which the authorities alerted was an exponential increase during quarantine of 267% in cases of violent children in a digital environment, either by grooming and/or using pornographic images.As a way to draw attention to these issues, civil organizations and public entities launched on Wednesday a public campaign starring children to alert about this scourge and the need for adults to get involved to consult and ask for information and assistance from the low state by getting “Boys and Girls We Are Responsible”.

Original source in Spanish