Twenty-five years ago, a study by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that, in the United States, traumatic experiences during childhood and adolescence are much more common than expected. The participants in that study were mostly white, middle class, well-educated, and had good health insurance, and yet only a third of them reported no serious adverse childhood experiences. In the remaining sample, the vast majority had experienced two or more horrendous events in childhood. Subsequent scientific reports from 96 countries have shown that, globally, more than half of all children (one billion girls and boys) are exposed to violence each year.
Why is that important? People with a history of childhood trauma are vulnerable to developing a number of problems, including difficulties concentrating, angry outbursts, panic, depression, and difficulties with eating, drugs, and sleeping, as well as higher levels of stress hormones and reduced or deteriorated levels. Immune responses. Neuroscience research consistently shows that childhood trauma alters brain systems dedicated to assessing the relative risk of what is happening around us and causes difficulties in regulating emotional responses throughout life.
Despite the leadership of the World Health Organization (WHO) in anchoring violence against children as a global public health priority and the numerous studies conducted over the past 30 years detailing the devastating effects of childhood trauma on physical health and mental, the effects of exposure to violence remain largely unrecognized and unresourced in school systems, child care agencies, medical clinics, and the criminal justice system.
An opportunity to repair that negligence is on the horizon. In November 2024, the Government of Colombia, in partnership with the Government of Sweden, WHO, UNICEF and the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Ending Violence against Children, will host a Global Ministerial Conference to End Violence against Children. End Violence Against Children. A first-ever meeting of all 194 countries to recognize the scale and severity of the impact of child violence and begin marshalling much-needed resources to accelerate action.
It is striking that this is the first global ministerial meeting on the issue and that it is largely considered a third-level political priority. A response commensurate with the challenge of preventing child violence has long been needed.
Very retarded and short-sighted; The CDC study concluded that childhood violence is the costliest public health problem in the United States, estimating that the overall costs exceeded those of cancer or heart disease. It was estimated that eradicating childhood violence in the United States would reduce the overall rate of depression by more than half, alcoholism by two-thirds, and suicide, serious drug abuse, and domestic violence by three-quarters. Additionally, preventing exposure to violence and abuse would significantly impact job performance and greatly reduce the need for incarceration. In fact, about 95 percent of violent inmates suffer childhood experiences of violence and abuse. This, of course, is not limited to the United States, but is relevant to children around the world.
When people talk about children's exposure to violence, they tend to focus on what happens outside the home: on the streets, in school, in refugee camps, and in war-torn societies. However, for most children, trauma begins at home, at the hands of their own family members. Both physical and sexual violence by caregivers themselves have devastating consequences.
In 1987, Frank Putnam and Penelope Trickett of the National Institute of Mental Health began the first longitudinal study of the impact of sexual abuse on girls' development, which has now been underway for 35 years. Compared to girls of the same age, race and social background, sexually abused girls suffer a number of profoundly negative effects: learning difficulties, depression, problems with sexual development, high rates of obesity and self-mutilation. They dropped out of school at much higher rates and suffered from more serious medical illnesses. This study, and many others like it, underscore the reality that supporting high-quality early care is vitally important in preventing physical, social, and mental health problems, regardless of traumas that occur outside the family.
Safe and protective early relationships are vital to protecting children from long-term problems. If the parents themselves are the source of distress, the child has nowhere to turn for comfort and restoration of disturbed biological functioning. Social support is a biological need, not an option, and this notion should be the backbone of all prevention and treatment. Early stimulation and sensitive parenting are essential for successful growth and development.
John Heckman, winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Economics, has shown that quality early childhood programs that engage parents and promote basic skills in disadvantaged children more than pay off in terms of improved outcomes. Economists have estimated that every dollar invested in high-quality home visiting, child care, and preschool programs translates into $7 in savings in welfare payments, health care costs, substance abuse treatment, and incarceration, plus higher incomes. tax due to better paying jobs.
After violence, the world lives with a different nervous system. Three decades of research by Martin Teicher and his colleagues at Harvard have shown that many of the brain abnormalities thought to be specific to a variety of psychiatric problems were, in fact, a direct consequence of childhood trauma and abuse.
Labels like “depression,” “oppositional defiant disorder,” “intermittent explosive disorder,” and bipolar disorder do not address underlying issues.
A mislabeled person is likely to become an abused patient. Mental illness is not really like cancer or heart disease: everything in us (our brain, our mind, and our body) is geared toward being integrated members of social groups, able to share, nurture, and collaborate. This is the key to our success as a species, and it is what goes wrong in most forms of mental illness. It is essential to recognize that many of our behavioral patterns are the result of the social conditions and systems of care that shape our minds and brains when we are young, and that continue to support the fundamental substance and meaning of our lives.
With just six months to go until the Global Ministerial Conference to End Violence Against Children, my hope is that governments recognize the opportunity and need to prioritize child protection, as the right and smart thing to do. The stability and functioning of tomorrow's societies and citizens depend on the decisions of today's governments. Governments are undoubtedly feeling fiscal pressure, but recognizing and adequately resourcing child violence prevention will prove to be a strategic investment.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.
