By: Staff Writer
January 27, 2026
The Pan American Health Organisation in a new report said that violence continues to be a serious threat to the lives, health and well-being of millions of children, adolescents and young people as between 2015 and 2022, 53,318 children and adolescents were victims of homicide in the region.
The report, “Violence against children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean: New data and solutions,” also said: “Violence against children and adolescents doesn’t happen for just one reason. It is often tied to deep problems in society – like poverty, unfair treatment based on age, race or gender, weak systems meant to protect children, and crime or conflict. Because of this, not all children and adolescents face the same level of risk of being abused and certain groups are often more vulnerable.”
“The people who commit violence against children are often those close to them: parents, family members, teachers, caregivers, friends or boyfriends/girlfriends. But it is not always someone they know: violence can also come from police officers or members of gangs and organized crime.”
The report added: “In 2019 homicide was the leading case of death for adolescents aged 10–19 in Latin America and the Caribbean. Between 2018 and 2022 (the latest available data), the number of adolescent boys aged 15–17 who were victims of homicides fell across the region, though the rate is still very high. Between 2021 and 2022, however, there was a rise in the number of adolescent girls aged 15-17 who were killed. Since 2023, homicide rates have risen in some countries, and so the number of children and adolescents affected is also likely to have increased.
“Between 2015 and 2022, around 10,500 children and adolescents (ages 0–19) were arrested or suspected of homicide in the region. Most were teenagers between 15 and 19, but 1 in 14 were as young as 10–14. Boys were 13 times more likely than girls to be arrested or suspected of homicide, though not all have actually committed these crimes.”
Homicides occur in a context of rising armed violence in some areas of the region, associated with organized crime, easy access to firearms, social inequalities and harmful gender norms, which increasingly expose adolescents to situations of lethal violence.
Different forms of violence are interconnected and, in many cases, intensify over time. The report highlights how violence is present from a very early age. In the region, 6 out of 10 children and adolescents under 14 years of age are subject to some type of violent discipline at home, while one in four adolescents aged 13 to 17 experiences bullying at school. Nearly one in five women in Latin America and the Caribbean report having experienced sexual violence before the age of 18. Increasingly, violence manifests itself in digital environments, although available data remains limited.