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Summary: In this publication, Save the Children Norway, presents a summary of four studies on violence and sexual abuse against children, conducted in Nicaragua during the last two years (2004 and 2005). They were carried out within the context of the UN Study on Violence against children and constitute a submission to this study.
This report offers a description and analysis of the situation of child sexual abuse in Nicaragua. It is based on information from the 2002/2004 records of the National Police Stations' Offices for Women and Children and the Ministry of the Family of five departments located in the different regions of the country (North Pacific and West, Center, Caribbean Coast and Managua, the capital). It also includes the results of a systematization of research conducted in the country and a brief critique of the institutional programmatic framework. Case studies and focal groups were also done with boys and girls and with national experts that allowed validation of the information. According to the principal findings, based on charges filed, Child Sexual Abuse occurs in the surroundings closest to the assaulted child (68% occurs in the home). It most affects the age group between 11 and 15 years old; 96% of the victims are female, with a low level of schooling, and the majority of them are still in school. The victimizers are mainly men, 68% of them between 18 and 30 years of age, an older age group than that of the victims. Boyfriends, stepfathers, neighbors, uncles and brothers are the most frequent perpetrators of the abuse. Only in 10% of the cases denounced was the victimizer unknown. An anonymous community base study conducted by UNAN Leَn reported that approximately 27% of the women and 19% of the men had a past history of child sexual abuse. The most revealing limitations to adequate attention to and protection of children exposed to sexual abuse that were detected are: lack of standardization in the records of cases or their inexistence, insufficient budget allocation to carry out all the policies suggested; lack of effective mechanisms of coordination and follow-up to the state programs; and lack of systemization of experiences, detection instruments, or response and prevention models by civil society organizations.