At least 37 children in Spain are mistreated every day at home - The Province

Some 37 children are victims of mistreatment every day in the family field in Spain, more than 13,800 a year, according to the latest statistics in the Unified Registry of cases of suspected Child Maltreatment. In addition, in 2017, 37,000 complaints were filed for violent crimes against minors and so far this year a total of 18 children have died from violent causes.

This is remembered by the Children's Platform on the occasion of Universal Day of the Rights of the Child, which takes place this Tuesday, November 20, in which notes that in the last six years have died in Spain almost 120 children and that of all complaints of sexual abuse filed last year, half had a minor as a victim

These are the main official data on violence against children in Spain that the Platform for Children wants to put on the table in a day in which they present their report 'Game Over Violence', in which testimonies and opinions and proposals of about 600 children between 4 and 17 years old are collected.

The document reveals that children and adolescents, by mere fact of being "small" suffer situations of violence in different areas. The adolescents point to the street and the educational centers as places where more hours pass and where there are more situations of abuse against them. "Her classmates laugh at her and insult her, sometimes she cries in the high school bathroom," says a testimony.

They warn, in addition, that although in the schools the 'bullying' is detected, no one is ready to help them in the long term, so they ask for more training for themselves and their teachers. They also ask to pay attention not only to the victims, but also to the stalkers, so that they understand that "what they do is wrong and they do not have to."

In more than a third of the profiles indicated by the boys and girls they point out what "ugly" and the "different", physical characteristics and character traits - temper, sadness, negativity - as some of the reasons why a boy or girl is attacked.

"She is dark, short and has a stuttering problem when talking, that's why her classmates laugh at her and insult her, for lack of trust she has no friends and sometimes cries in the bathroom of the institute," says one witness.

They also mention racism, LGTBIfobia and machismo as causes of violence against children: "He is a child of another race who is very dark, whom they judge, insult, beat and discriminate against"; "She has braces, she's very thin and she has a wart on her nose," or "She likes to play soccer and she's the only girl on the team."

They also recognize parks and shopping centers as public spaces where violence is exercised, but they also point out at home, the working environments of children, models, actors and actresses and border areas.

In addition, these children have created an interactive game 'Last scape' (last escapade), through which they have learned what their rights are and have created scenarios, characters, potions and tools to escape from a situation of violence.