They inaugurated a prosecutor’s office specialized in dealing with cases of sexual abuse crimes in Venezuela

• The body will be made up of a provisional prosecutor, five interim assistant prosecutors, an assistant lawyer, seven administrative officials and a technical social worker | Photo: EFE

The Attorney General of Venezuela, Tarek William Saab, inaugurated this Tuesday, October 1, a prosecutor’s office specialized in crimes of sexual abuse of children and adolescents, attached to the General Directorate for the Protection of Family and Women, in collaboration with the Fund of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the country.

Saab, who was accompanied by the Unicef ​​representative in Venezuela, Abubacar Sultan, explained that the specialized prosecutor’s office is part of a work plan with the organization, with objectives set for 2023-2024, which includes the donation of office materials, computer equipment , informative material, as well as the training and training of officials who make up the country’s justice system.

Likewise, he explained that the entity will be made up of a provisional prosecutor, five interim assistant prosecutors, an assistant lawyer, a technical-social worker and seven administrative officials.

Fiscal Tarek William Saab. Photo: EFE / Archive

For his part, the Unicef ​​representative recalled that sexual abuse “is a crime and one of the worst forms of violence against children and adolescents,” while stressing that “the majority” of cases of abuse are not detected or reported.

“The shame, pain and fear suffered by children and adolescents, and sometimes their families, often make it difficult to report, document, verify the situations and punish the person responsible,” said Sultan.

He stated that the creation of this prosecutor’s office represents “a firm commitment by the State” to “guarantee that cases of child sexual abuse are investigated exhaustively and efficiently,” that “the perpetrators are brought to justice” and that “the victims receive the protection and support they need to overcome trauma and rebuild their lives.”

A single instance

For Unicef, the establishment of the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes that Attack the Sexual Integrity of Boys, Girls and Adolescents “is significant because it is the first time” that an instance of the Public Ministry “will be dedicated exclusively to the protection of children.” against this type of transgressions.”

For his part, Saab recalled that, for several years, without specifying how many, the institution he represents has had a program called ‘Pedophilia is a crime’ for the defense of children.

In the first half of 2023, the Public Ministry reported that 2,076 reports of cases of sexual abuse of children and adolescents in Venezuela were received.

A latent problem

The Childlight Institute at the University of Edinburgh warned that in Venezuela almost 250 thousand complaints were registered for images of child sexual abuse on the Internet, according to its most recent report published on May 27 on its web portal.

Of 21 Spanish-speaking countries that were included in the study, Venezuela appears as the third with the most reports of these cases of child abuse onlinewith a total of 249,567 cases registered.

According to figures from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the first place is occupied by Mexico with 717,468, at a rate of almost 2,000 per day, and 602,660 in Colombia, with 1,650 per day.

Childlight is in charge of carrying out investigations on child sexual exploitation and abuse in the world so that authorities take measures and act for the protection of children and adolescents.

With information from EFE

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