I consider this work to be very important and necessary, as sexual violence has traditionally been kept hidden (if not normalized), and victims of such violence were often blamed and held responsible. This concealment did not prevent or lessen the impact that such violence has on the physical and mental health of its survivors. As the study points out, sexual violence against children is a widespread public health and human rights issue that, worldwide, undermines the safety and well-being of children. This type of violence has significant and long-term effects on physical and mental health and has also been linked to behaviors such as alcohol and substance use. In addition to its direct effects on health, it hinders individual development by affecting educational performance and economic achievement, which ultimately reduces the well-being trajectories of those who survive such violence. Therefore, as stated in the study, it is a moral obligation to protect children from violence and to mitigate its lifelong effects on their health.

One notable aspect of this study is that it analyzes data from a large number of countries (204) over an extended period, from 1990 to 2023. The case definition of sexual violence against minors used in the study is having ever experienced sexual intercourse or other types of sexual contact violence (i.e., fondling and other sexual touching) before the age of 18, in which the contact was unwanted (i.e., physically forced or coerced), regardless of the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator. It is important to note that this case definition does not include online abuse or exploitation, as information about these forms of violence is generally collected through different methods.

Among the findings, it is noteworthy that the prevalence of sexual violence against minors is very high worldwide, although there are significant variations across countries and geographical areas. For instance, while in 2023 the global age-standardized prevalence among people aged 20 or older was estimated at 18.9% for women and 14.8% for men, the estimates for women ranged from 6.9% in Montenegro to 42.6% in the Solomon Islands, and for men from 4.2% in Mongolia to 28.3% in Côte d'Ivoire. These differences in rates suggest that there are both risk and protective factors related to sexual violence that need to be analyzed in order to implement effective prevention and eradication programs and policies.

Another important finding is that, globally, the estimates have remained relatively stable since 1990, with slight variations at the national and regional levels. The results also highlight that, among individuals aged 13 to 24, the first experience of sexual violence occurred before the age of 18 in 67.3% of women and 71.9% of male survivors.

It is also important to consider that, as the study acknowledges, given the scarcity of data and the challenges in measuring sexual violence, it is likely that the findings underestimate the true prevalence of sexual violence against minors.

A new article, just released by the Lancet Commission is one of the first studies on Sexual Violence against Children (SVAC), with data from 204 countries by age and sex. The study has documented confronting figures - 18.9% of adolescent young women and 14.8 % of adolescent young men under 18 years globally experienced sexual violence. The article reports that 7.7% of the 16,786 females globally had experienced sexual violence before the age of 12 years with this increasing to 67.3% before the age of 18 years.  

The highest average rates for sexual violence against young women were recorded in South Asia and for young men in Africa. There were also stark and notable regional, country and geographic differences with estimates for India being 30.8% of young women and 13.5% of young men and 27.5% of young women and 16.1% of young men for the USA.

SVAC is a critical human rights, public health, social, and community issue with significant long-term impacts. Survivors face a lifetime of health conditions with major psychosocial and mental health impacts, including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and STIs and chronic conditions. The authors state that SVAC is often under-reported, so actual figures may be much higher and there is a dire need for resources and funding to develop health system support for surveillance in all countries for accurate estimation of SVAC so that targeted interventions and services are provided to survivors throughout their life and globally generations of children can be protected.