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CHILD ABUSE

Twenty percent of children in Switzerland are victims of domestic violence, says report

A new study by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences and Arts has found that one in five children in Switzerland is beaten in their domestic environment.

Twenty percent of children in Switzerland are victims of domestic violence, says report
Photo: Mactrunk/Depositphotos

The study, seen exclusively by German-language Swiss daily Aargauer Zeitung, highlights worrying levels of domestic abuse aimed at children in Switzerland.

A family's financial security has a strong bearing on how children are treated, argues the report. Violence towards children is twice as high in families who receive social benefits and live closer to the poverty line. 

Tradition and culture can also play a part, according to the study. 

Forty percent of children of parents from former Yugoslavian countries, namely Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia, experience violence in the home. More than a third of children of parents of Portuguese heritage also experience regular domestic abuse, adds the report

According to the study's author, Dirk Baier, certain Diasporas have a stronger culture of domestic violence than others. The report is based on interviews with 10,000 17-year-olds in Switzerland. 

Two out of five children are vulnerable to physical reproaches or “lighter forms of violence,” in the daily's words; the flick of an ear or a slap.

The study argues that 20 percent of children in Switzerland live in “serious danger” because of violence; an extra 42.3 percent are threatened by “light violence,” while 37 percent of children in Switzerland are free of violence at home. 

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