Angola: Children's Institute Records Over 20,000 Cases of Violence Against Children

5 December 2024
Angola Press Agency (Luanda)

Luanda — The National Children's Institute (INAC) recorded From January to October this year a total of 26,386 cases of violence against children across the country, the INAC director, Paulo Kalesi said Thursday.

The INAC official made the statement at the presentation of the Action Plan for the "We Are All Equal" Campaign, chaired by the First Lady of the Republic, Ana Dias Lourenço.

On the occasion, Kalesi said, without giving specific figures that the number of cases has been falling year on year, but he was nevertheless concerned about the way in which the acts have been carried out.

He said that the total number of 11,748 cases of paternity leave were the most recorded, followed by 5,363 cases of child labor and 3,215 cases of physical and psychological violence.

The list of cases, according to the director, includes 1,315 cases of sexual violence, neglect (823), custody disputes (746), child abandonment (566), accusations of witchcraft (98) and homicide (48).

Paulo Kalesi called for the actions and intervention capacity developed by the institutions to be strengthened, as well as for technicians to be trained so that they can attend to victims in a more humanized and specialized way.

"Just to give you an idea, 80 or 90% of cases of violence happen within the family and by the people who should be the children's defenders and protectors," he added.

For the INAC director, reviewing and increasing the penal framework would also be a way of discouraging such practices and giving greater value to child protection.

The Action Plan for the "We are all equal" campaign, which is running under the motto "Education for Gender Equality and the Fight against Child and Youth Violence", an initiative of the First Lady of the Republic, was presented following the commitment made during the launch of the campaign on August 9, 2024.

The ceremony brought together entities such as representatives of the Ministries of Social Action, Family and Promotion of Women, Justice and Human Rights, Interior, Health, Education, Youth and Sports, Public Administration, Labour and Social Security, as well as members of the Angolan Executive, members of the National Assembly, representatives of Non-Governmental Organizations, ecclesiastical entities and Civil Society.

CPM/SEC/AMP

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