The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that 63.5% of children aged 1-14 in the Dominican Republic suffer from domestic violence, a figure that amounts to 70% for children aged 3-4.

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This information was published in the context of the National Day for the Rights of the Child, highlighting that children and adolescents represent 31.7% of the country’s population.

“On this National Day for the Rights of the Child, we reaffirm that every child in the Dominican Republic must grow up protected, with access to education, health and opportunities to develop fully. We cannot normalize the violence and inequalities that still affect their present and limit their future”, said in a statement Anyoli Sanabria, UNICEF’s interim representative.

Another persistent problem that threatens the full realization of children’s rights in the country is that the Caribbean nation has one of the highest rates of early marriage, along with teenage pregnancies throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, despite the fact that early marriage rates have declined in recent years, UNICEF said.

The UN agency also mentioned child labor, as although the rate fell from 6.7% in 2014 to 3.8% in 2019, 16.8% of minors who do not attend school perform hazardous work.

He also referred to suicide in adolescents and pointed out that despite the high underreporting of this issue, between 2017 and 2022,174 cases of suicides in minors were recorded, with adolescents aged 15-17 being the highest risk group.

These data highlight the urgent need to strengthen public policies, increase resources for child protection and promote a culture of respect for children’s rights throughout society, he said.

“We cannot allow violence and inequality to continue to undermine their dreams. Our organization will continue to accompany the country in building a safe, protected and confident childhood in a future of equality and well-being”, said the UNICEF interim representative in the statement.

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