(AsiaNews) – - Nepalese children are subject to a shocking extent of “hidden and often socially accepted” violence, according to the findings of a UN report backed by social campaigners.

The study presented in Kathmandu on 12 October reveals that around 8% of girls and 6% of boys interviewed “were subject to disgusting abuse by their own relatives”. Norbert Rai, a tribal Christian humanitarian worker in Nepal, said: “A child abused by its own family members has no one to turn to for help and his or her only option is to bear the traumas which tend to maim psychologically for ever.” According to the UN report, 95.8% of boys and 31.1% of girls interviewed said they had been sexually abused.

Ramekbal Choudhary, a Hindu social activist, said he was “shocked” by the results of the study that shattered the “myth of an idyllic rural milieu which has nurtured a family culture rooted in love and affection”. Corporal punishment meted out by parents in rural areas tends to be much more severe than that in cities. The districts of Surkhet, Kaski, Chitwan and Morang were among those researched during the survey.

The Nepalese Social Affairs Minister, Urmila Aryal, said she was “concerned” about the results of the report. “The government will work to tackle problems faced by children.”

But Nepalese children are threatened by more than domestic violence. Murders, kidnapping and suicide are also widespread. Sumnima Tuladhar, a renowned activist for children’s rights in Nepal, said: “Some 50 cases of infant killing take place each year, while about 100 cases of child abduction are recorded, with only 30% of missing children reported found."

The worst thing, added Sumnima, was that “at least 100 children across the country commit suicide every year, often because they cannot manage to overcome the trauma of diverse forms of violence they are submitted to.”