How African nations harness data to help end violence against children

Several African governments are gathering data on the prevalence of violence against children as a first step to tackle the issue — and it’s working. Survey data for Eswatini and Kenya collected at the country level and compared over time show a marked reduction in the number of children experiencing a form of abuse. Between 2010 and 2019, over 4 million fewer children experienced sexual violence in Kenya, the prevalence of physical violence declined by 21% for males, and half as many females experienced emotional violence perpetrated by a caregiver. In Eswatini, between 2007 and 2022, 169,995 fewer children experienced sexual violence. In addition, the rate of lifetime physical and emotional violence among females aged 13-24 years dropped by around 25%, and sexual violence among the same demographic decreased by around 37%. “That is massive and that’s the kind of data we need to show progress is possible,” said Daniela Ligiero, CEO and president of Together for Girls, a public-private partnership supporting governments in conducting violence against children and youth surveys, or VACS. The challenge is that many governments don’t believe child violence is a problem in their countries until they take the time to research and investigate its prevalence, she added. “We were working from a point of not knowing, we didn’t have evidence of the magnitude of violence in our nation,” said Vivienne Mang’oli, VACS lead at the department of children’s services within Kenya’s Ministry of Labour and Social Protection. As it stands, around the world 1 billion children aged 2 to 17 years old endure a form of violence — be it sexual, physical, emotional, domestic violence, or bullying — every year. Violent discipline is commonplace in parts of Africa, and the continent has the highest rates of child neglect globally. Yet all forms of violence against children are supposed to end by 2030 under the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 16. Progress, as on many other goals, has been slow. Research suggests global surveillance on the issue could advance progress and lead to the protection of more children. VACS measure the prevalence and circumstances surrounding sexual, physical, and emotional violence in those under 24. Only 23 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean thus far have opted to conduct VACs — leaving a data gap of 88% of the world’s young people. Of those, 14 have been conducted in African nations. “There are some countries taking this on politically and making the investments and policies and that makes a difference,” Ligiero said. Armed with country-level data, Eswatini and Kenya used their initial surveys to inform interventions and strategies. “It woke us up as a nation,” said Mang’oli, speaking of Kenya’s first VACS in 2010. “Attention shifted to trying to reduce that prevalence, which was very high at 80%.” The government designed a five-year National Prevention and Response Plan on Violence against Children, 2013-2018, which focused on ensuring children have increased protection through laws and policy, providing parents with better financial support and skills, educating communities on how to respond to violence, and providing children with better access to health and social services, among other interventions. Kenya is currently in the next five-year iteration of the plan, informed by a second VACS conducted in 2019. This plan focuses more on prevention and aims to decrease the prevalence rate of violence against children by a further 40%. Most recently, the implementation of the Children Act 2022 explicitly prohibits corporal punishment, includes new measures to protect against online abuse, and establishes a child welfare fund to support children in need. These strategies are in line with the World Health Organization’s INSPIRE, a technical package that lists seven strategies that have seen success in preventing and responding to violence against children. Eswatini has taken similar steps since gathering data in 2007. The government subsequently introduced a child protection hotline, created a positive discipline guide to support schools in removing corporal punishment and implementing alternative ways of disciplining children, and brought the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act 2018 into effect, which includes extra safeguards — such as raising the age of marriage to 18 and criminalizing abduction — to prevent child marriage. The government has also been working with NGOs to educate communities on the impact of violence against children. Temalangeni Dlamini, communication coordinator with SOS Children's Villages Eswatini, advised countries to replicate the same collaboration between government and NGOs and said, as a result, she estimates that where SOS may have previously seen 10 cases of reported incidents, that number has fallen to three. “Even in a small country that has all kinds of issues like Eswatini … there are certain things that can be done to make a difference for kids,” Ligiero said, adding that 10 years ago this issue wasn’t on the agenda but it is slowly becoming a priority. “It has to do with political commitment and will.” Other countries in the region are also making significant progress. South Africa ranks in the top 10 countries making progress in preventing child sexual violence. In recent years, Uganda has banned corporal punishment in schools, published national parenting guidelines, and created a multisectoral framework for adolescent girls, addressing violence. And in Tanzania, a national action plan has been developed and marriage of those under 18 has been made illegal. But Mang’oli warned that for other countries to follow suit, they have to be aware of the “huge” financial investment into data gathering to inform effective interventions. Kenya’s first two VACS were supported by Together for Girls, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. “To ensure sustainability, the government must find alternative means and sources of funding to implement the survey,” she said. “But evidence works and is better than just assuming that things are OK.”