The Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services has revealed that they received the most cases of sexual assault against children, recorded at 48 among the cases of violence against children reported during January 2020.

This was revealed in the ministry’s monthly statistics, publicized on Thursday.

121 cases among the total of 243 complaints received within the month were of violence against children. Out of the 121, 73 were of girls and 48 related to boys.

Among the cases of violence against children are, 43 of neglect, 15 of physical abuse, nine of emotional and verbal abuse, four victims of bullying and harassment and two cases of witnessing domestic violence.

There were also 23 cases of family issues, 13 of girls and 10 of boys.

In addition, the ministry attended to 11 cases of child custody and assess, six cases related to parenting issues and six of child maintenance.

The gender ministry received 34 cases of gender-based violence and domestic violence against two boys 32 girls.

13 cases of physical violence, eight cases of emotional or verbal abuse, six of sexual abuse, three of rape, two of intimidation, and one each of negligence and controlling behavior were also received, said the ministry.

Further, the ministry attended to four cases of children being in “conflict with the law” during the past month.

Out of the 16 cases of child rights violations, 11 cases include of refusal to access to education, three of refusal to vaccination and two of refusal to access to health care.

A total of 30 cases were reported of care and support, including 21 persons with disabilities and nine elderly.

Five girls and one boy are to have been reported to having suicidal behavior in six cases of self-harm.

The ministry further received nine cases of behavioral problem in five girls and four boys, out of which three were where children ran away from home, three of children having refused to attend school and three others.

The gender ministry’s statistics have indicated a rise in sexual assault against children, at a time the authorities have been facing intense backlash from the public, regarding inadequate action taken to curb such cases from repeating. During the very month, the disturbing news of a toddler, almost two years of age having been sexually assaulted by her own family members, shook the nation and since then, multiple such cases have been unfolding.