Female adolescents: child abuse victims in El Salvador

Abstract

Numerous studies indicate that violence in El Salvador not only decreases, but that, on the contrary, it also increases regardless of what the State points out: “girls, boys and adolescents must be treated with respect, and must not be subjected to physical or psychological punishments, nor to any other form of abuse (…).” (UTE, 2011, p. 20) In this sense, the objective of this study, was to identify child abuse situations in adolescents ranging between the ages of 13 and 15. The study was conducted within the framework of the project “Fortaleciendo la Colaboración en las Américas sobre Derechos de la Niñez y la Adolescencia” (Rights for Children and Youth Partnership, RCYP) The research was conducted under the quantitative paradigm, typical of the deductive method, and from a gender perspective, based on the analysis of the measurements made to the different forms of abuse towards adolescents. A survey was used in congruency to this method; the questionnaire was conducted with 384 adolescents who were selected via a probabilistic sampling, in the three areas of the country (western, central and eastern). This study points out that child abuse continues to be a form of violence more frequently exerted against women, since during 2018 two out of three beaten adolescents turned out to be female.