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Each year, at least 55 million children in Europe suffer some form of physical, sexual, emotional or psychological violence, the UN health agency (WHO) said on Tuesday, according to UN News. 

And despite the magnitude of this figure, “it is well established that incidents of interpersonal violence are widely underreported,” according to the World Health Organization’s European Region office.

Accounting for underreporting, WHO estimates that of the 204 million children under the age of 18 across the region, 9.6 per cent experience sexual exploitation, 22.9 per cent physical abuse and 29.1 per cent emotional harm. Moreover, 700 are murdered every year.

“The cost of violence against children adds up,” WHO maintained, highlighting that an estimated $581 billion is spent annually on treating victims.

“But the financial cost pales in comparison to the toll on individuals’ health,” said the agency.

Studies reveal that children who experience violence are at higher risk of mental illness, drug use, alcohol use and obesity, but also for chronic disease later in life.

“Violence against children is chilling and distressing,” said Bente Mikkelson, WHO Europe’s Director of the Division of Noncommunicable Diseases and Promoting Health.

“Child trauma has a terrible cost, not only to the children and the adults they become, whose lives it wrecks, but to every country’s well-being and economy.”