NCJ Number
188011
Date Published
1999
Length
124 pages
Annotation
This report presents findings from a survey (part of Eurobarometer 51.0) that solicited opinions from a sample of Europeans regarding violence against children.
Abstract
The survey was conducted between March 12 and May 4, 1999. In each member country of the European Union, the questionnaire was put to a representative sample of the national population aged 15 and over. A total of 16,179 people were polled, an average of approximately 1,000 per country. The survey findings show that only 1 percent of Europeans had never heard of violence against children or youth under age 18. Of those that had, 94 percent had heard of it through television, 70 percent through the press, and 51 percent through the radio. Sexual abuse was considered to be a form of violence by virtually all respondents, physical or psychological cruelty inflicted by other children by 88 percent and 85 percent, physical or psychological punishment inflicted by teachers by 74 percent and 75 percent, and psychological punishment by parents or other relatives by 71 percent. Fifty-nine percent regarded physical punishment by parents or other relatives to be a form of violence. Forty-eight percent believed that this type of violence was "fairly common," 29 percent that it is "very common," 17 percent that it was "not very common," and 1 percent that it was "not at all common." The persons believed most likely to inflict some form of violence on a child were strangers (74 percent), the stepfather or stepmother (71 percent for the stepfather/mother's partner and 62 percent for the stepmother/father's partner), the child's father (60 percent), another child (56 percent), a relative other than the mother and brothers or sisters (55 percent), a teacher (50 percent), the mother (45 percent), a brother (35 percent), and a sister (31 percent). Data was also provided on opinions regarding the causes of violence against children, societal responses to violence against children, and knowledge about the European Union's efforts to combat violence against children. Extensive tables