Greek charity reports 62 pct rise in complaints of child abuse
The Smile of the Child charity has reported a 62 percent increase in complaints of child abuse over the past year with four out of 10 of the cases relating to children aged under 6.
The charity said it had received complaints regarding the alleged abuse of 1,151 children since the beginning of this year with 596 of these said to be serious cases and 213 alleged to involve both of the child’s parents.
Virtually all the complaints were reported anonymously.
The head of the charity, Constantinos Yiannopoulos, told a press conference that most cases could not be directly linked to the repercussions of the economic crisis or to growing poverty but rather to problems such as drug addiction.
