The most common form of abuse was child neglect.
Keystone
The number of child abuse victims in Switzerland rose by 10% last year, according to the latest statistics collected by the Swiss Society of Pediatrics (SSP).
The figures (in French)External link, released on Wednesday, show that some 1,730 individual cases of child abuse were reported by 20 paediatric clinics (from a total of 31) across Switzerland in 2017, up from 1,565 the previous year.
The most common form of abuse flagged was neglect – failing to provide for a child’s basic health and protection needs – which was reported in 38% of cases. This figure was almost double that of 2016.
Just over a quarter of the reported cases involved physical abuse, while 20% of children experienced psychological abuse such as the witnessing of domestic violence.
Sexual abuse was the least common complaint, but it also had the most skewed gender breakdown: 80% of sexual victims were girls. Across all forms of abuse, girls made up 56% of victims and boys 44%, identical to last year.
In terms of building a profile of the perpetrators, the SSP’s statistics show that abusers are slightly more likely to be male (44% were solely male; 24% solely female; the rest mixed or unknown), and extremely likely to be a member of the child’s family (84% of incidents).
Young children are most likely to be affected, with one in six abused children under the age of one, the SSP wrote. Some 46% of victims were under the age of six.
More
More
Child protection measures tightened
This content was published on
New guidelines on protecting children, in particular small children, have been agreed by the Swiss parliament. The KESB approves.
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
Switzerland among world’s most expensive for household electricity
This content was published on
According to a study by the comparison site Verivox, based on data from Global Petrol Prices, Switzerland came in tenth out of 143 countries.
Global uncertainty boosts Swiss-EU talks, says Cassis
This content was published on
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis says Switzerland’s talks with the European Union (EU) have been boosted by the current difficult global situation.
This content was published on
Nearly three out of four children worldwide experience some form of violence, a major international report has concluded.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.