Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics has sent a clarification to a report run by The Daily Star on February 25 under the headline “9 in 10 children suffer violent disciplining”.

The BBS said this was one of the key findings of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2019, conducted by the BBS and Unicef. The survey found that 88.8 percent children aged between one and 14 years experienced physical punishment and/or psychological aggression by their parents and caregivers. The figure was 82.3 percent in 2012-2013.

In the clarification sent last week, the BBS gave an explanation on the nature of violence children endure in households as they collected data based on some questions asked to parents and caregivers.

According to the survey, 28.6 percent children in Bangladesh are hit or slapped on their face, head or ears by their parents or caregivers while 38 percent on their hands, arms and legs.

Besides, 38 percent children are spanked, hit or slapped on their back with bare hand while about 15.6 percent parents and caregivers used different objects, such as belt, hairbrush, stick or other hard objects to hit them on their back or elsewhere on the body. Around 32 percent of the respondents also said they shook their children.

Five percent parents and caregivers said they beat up their children repeatedly as hard as they could.

On the other hand, an overwhelming majority of children faced verbal abuse as almost 87 percent parents and caregivers said they shouted, yelled or screamed at them. About 27.5 percent of the respondents said they belittled and demeaned their children with name-calling like dumb or lazy.

The MICS is a global survey, conducted as part of the Global MICS Programme, developed by Unicef in 1990s. It measures key indicators that allow countries to generate data for use in policies, programmes, and national development plans, and to monitor progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS). The survey is done in every 3-4 years with the same methodology for every country.

According to the BBS, the percentage of violence against children was 82 percent in Nepal (MICS 2014), 82 percent in Bangladesh (MICS 2012-2013), 81 percent in Pakistan (MICS 2017) and 74 percent in Afghanistan (MICS 2010-2011).