child-abuse-in-pacific-islands_50Recent report across the Pacific island countries revealed an alarming degree of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and that ‘children are most at risk in their homes and communities and with people they know and trust.’

The investigation exposed that family members and neighbors sexually abused the children, which has further lead to child prostitution, child pornography, early marriage, child sex tourism and trafficking.

The perpetrators of the abuse and exploitation were ‘overwhelmingly males and typically men with resources or other power in the community’.

The Solomon Islands study found reports of sexually transmitted infections in children as young as between one and three years old were a clear indicator of the existence of child sexual abuse in that country.

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