„Children that count 2017”. The newest report of the Empowering Children Foundation

The data collected in the report show both disturbing and positive trends characterizing the situation of children in Poland important for their physical and mental condition, development, education, health and safety.

The report shows, among others, that in Poland:
• every fifth child has experienced physical abuse from a familiar adult; in the same time the number of parents who have never beaten the child constantly increases in recent years;
• Poland is on the second place in Europe (after Germany) where is the largest number of suicide attempts that finish with death of children aged 10-19;
• 12% of children have experienced some form of sexual abuse; only half of parents talked to their children about such a threat;
• the number of courts' interventions in parental authority increases. In 2015 there were over 214 000 of such interventions (it touches about 3 percent of the children);
• less than half of 3-year-olds living in rural areas are covered by pre-school education;
• 11% of teens submitted intimate photos via the Internet or a mobile phone;
• 5% of girls and 4% of boys experiences repeated and long-term cyberbullying;
• the number of children hospitalized due to mental disorders is increasing.

- Having in one publication the most up-to-date information on the situation of Polish children makes it easy to access for all who want and need to use it - politicians, practitioners, journalists, scientists and students, as well as other interested parties. - said Monika Sajkowska, the president of the Empowering Children Foundation.

The authors of the report, among many other recommendations, underlined the need to create specialized and professionally coordinated child protection services as a part of social support system as well as specialized centers based on the model of cooperation between various services. Centers where the child affected by the crime and his family could receive comprehensive support: psychological, legal, medical and social, under one roof. The Empowering Children Foundation started the establishment of such centers for children this year.

Full report (in Polish).