Research points to child abuse
More than one in 10 primary school children have been subject to abuse, in some cases sexual, according to the preliminary results of a study carried out by an Athens University professor and made public yesterday by municipal authorities in Maroussi, northern Athens. Some 15 percent of children aged between 8 and 12 have been abused, according to the nationwide study carried out by professor Christina Antonopoulou and the child protection agency Hamogelo tou Paidiou (Child’s Smile) on a sample of 2,500 children. The preliminary results of the study did not indicate who is responsible for abuse against children but Maroussi Mayor Giorgos Tatoulis said, «Usually the aggressor is someone from the child’s familiar environment.» «Every parent should be informed in order to recognize the danger signs,» said Tatoulis, the director of an intermunicipal initiative to boost health services. «Lack of infrastructure means children often don’t get psychiatric tests to determine whether they have been abused or not,» he said.
