Source: Save the Children
The number of grave violations committed against children in times of war rose 13% in 2022, to the highest level since reporting started in 2005, according to new analysis by Save the Children, with numbers of abuse in 2023 expected to rise even further.
The report – Stop the War on Children: Let children live in peace – shows that 27,638 grave violations were committed against children during conflict in 2022, with the killing and maiming of children having the highest number of reported and verified cases at 8,647.
This was followed by cases of recruitment and use of children in conflict, which increased by 20% to 7,610 in 2022.
These violations represent the worst crimes that can be committed against children in conflict, including killing, maiming, abduction and sexual violence to recruitment into armed groups and strikes on schools and hospitals. These violations are also known to only represent a small fraction of the total number of cases, as some abuses are never reported, while others committed in 2022 are still being verified.
To better show the prevalence of these violations against children, both by location, type and date, Save the Children has also today launched a new website which makes combined data on these tr
