Violence against children and young people

This is the fourth and final report in a major project on violence against children and young people in Denmark. The report presents and summarises the results from three sub-surveys focusing on three different aspects of the subject.
The report deals with violence and abuse among children and young people. It illustrates the consequences of being exposed to violence and abuse. It also deals with the barriers to discovering and reporting violence.
The survey shows that up to 20 percent of all young people have been exposed to violence from one of their parents within the last year. The survey also suggests that socially vulnerable youngsters are subject to violence more than other youngsters. In addition, the survey shows that discovering violence and abuse among pre-school children is difficult. One of the reasons why such a large part of the violence is hidden is that it is tabooed. It is hard to talk about violence; both for those exposed to it and for the professionals who are trying to discover and report it.
Professionals also often feel that they are put in some difficult dilemmas. They worry about the consequences of their report for e.g. their co-operation with the parents, the child’s safety and sometimes also their own safety.
The report has been commissioned and financed by the Ministry of Social Affairs.