The Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Service received and attended a total of 245 cases during December 2022.

The ministry recently publicized statistics for the last month of 2022, revealing that the authority received and attended a total of 245 cases.

These include cases of violence against children, domestic violence, gender-based violence, family issues, care and support issues, behavioral problems, child rights violations, self-harming and suicidal behavior, social support and well-being and cases of children in conflict with the law.

109 cases of violence against children were reported to them in December alone.

Out of the 109 cases of violence against children, a majority involved children having witnessed domestic violence. As such, 30 cases of children witnessing domestic violence, 29 cases of child negligence, 19 cases of children being victims of sexual abuse, 13 cases of physical abuse inflicted on children, 12 cases of emotional abuse of children, three other cases, one case of a child being blackmailed, one case of a child being a victim of cyber bullying and one case of a child being bullied and harassed, were reported.

67 girls and 42 boys were victims of violence in the past month.

Further, of the 54 cases linked to gender-based violence and domestic violence reported in December, 26 were of physical violence and abuse, 17 were of emotional and verbal abuse, four were of intimidation, three were of sexual violence and abuse, two were sexual harassment cases, one was a case of economic and financial abuse and another one was of negligence.

48 girls and six boys were victims of gender-based violence and domestic abuse that month.

In addition to this, 24 cases were to do with family issues, of which 11 related to access to the child, seven victims were identified to have parenting issues and three were issues related to custody and rights to access. Three cases of maintenance were also attended by the ministry.

12 boys and 12 girls were victims of family issues.

Two girls were reported to have not been provided the right to shelter and one girl was reported to have been denied health care as well.

The ministry also received 11 cases of self-harm and suicidal behavior during December. These included four victims of self-harm including three girls and a boy, two victims who had suicidal behavior including a boy and a girl as well as five victims with suicidal thoughts including four boys and one girl.

Throughout December, 20 cases of care and support for the elderly and persons with disabilities were also reported. These included 17 cases of care and support for persons with disabilities and three cases of care and support for the elderly.

The ministry also reported 17 cases of behavioral problems including six children with disciplinary issues, three children who were perpetrators of bullying, three children who threw temper tantrums, three children who ran away from home, one child who refused to attend school, one child with delinquent behavior and one child with other issues.

Further, the ministry also received five cases of child rights violations where two girls and three boys are involved, them being stripped of their right to education.

Also, one boy was reported to be in violation of the law.

Statistics go on to indicate that 195 children were under state care by the end of December.

As such, four children were reintegrated with families and two were taken into state care.

Moreover, one child who turned 18 was reintegrated to the society with a job.

105 boys and 82 girls are currently under state care.