Why do up to 1.5 billion children suffer physical violence every year? Why do up to 2251 million children suffer sexual violence every year? Why are 14.2 million girls every year married off to start adult lives in adolescence or before? Why are considerable numbers of young children left alone for long hours without competent adult supervision?
This report examines how far and in what ways poverty contributes to violations of children’s rights to protection in four key areas – child marriage, sexual and physical violence against children and inadequate care of children – and thus clarifies the significance of poverty as an underlying or risk factor for these different violations of children’s protection rights. It also assesses the strength of evidence concerning the relationship between poverty and child marriage, sexual and physical violence against children and inadequate care of children, and thus identifies knowledge gaps.
Key findings: