Educacion

Family Violence and Child Abuse in Latin America and the Caribbean The Cases of Colombia and Mexico

Felicia Knaul Miguel Ángel Ramírez

Inter-American Development Bank
Washington, D.C.

Sustainable Development Department Technical Papers Series

Cataloging-in-Publication data provided by the Inter-American Development Bank Felipe Herrera Library Knaul, Felicia Marie. Family violenceand child abuse in Latin America and the Caribbean : the cases of Colombia and Mexico / Felicia Knaul, Miguel Angel Ramírez. p.cm. (Sustainable Development Department Technical papers series; SOC-137) Includes bibliographical references. 1. Family violence—Colombia. 2. Family violence--Mexico. 3. Child abuse--Colombia. 4. Child abuse—Mexico. 5. School attendance—Colombia—Effect of Child abuse on. 6.School attendance— Mexico—Effect of Child abuse on. 7. Income—Colombia—Effect of Family violence on. 8. Income— Mexico—Effect of Family violence on. I. Ramírez, Miguel Angel. II. Inter-American Development Bank. Sustainable Development Dept. Social Development Div. III. Title. IV. Series. 362.8292 K282—dc22 Felicia Knaul is Lead Economist at the Mexican Foundation for Health (FUNSALUD) andGeneral Coordinator for Modernization, Ministry of Public Education of Mexico. Miguel Ángel Ramírez is Program Coordinator at the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS). At the time that this report was written, the authors were, respectively, Director and Researcher at the Center for Social and Economic Analysis, FUNSALUD, Mexico. The authors express their gratitude for the comments, suggestionsand collaboration offered by Héctor Arreola, Albert Berry, Loreto Biehl, Christian Borja, Carmen Eliza Flores, Andrew Morrison, and Ana Cristina Torres. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Inter-American Development Bank. February 2005 This publication (SOC-137) can be obtained through: Publications Social Development DivisionInter-American Development Bank 1300 New York Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20577 Fax: 202-623-1576 Email: sds/soc@iadb.org Web Site: www.iadb.org/sds/soc

Foreword
Domestic or family violence is, unfortunately, a common form of violence affecting the lives of victims and the development prospects of countries. The recent development literature has attempted to measure the economic costs ofdifferent forms of violence, including that against women, and its prevalence. But family violence also affects children and the elderly, although less is known about the magnitude, forms and consequences of violence against them. The suspicion, however, is that violence against children is especially prevalent and has alarming productivity and intergenerational impacts. Abuse can affect children’sperformance in school and, therefore, their productivity as adults. Abused children also learn aggressive behaviors that they tend to model later in life, perpetuating violence from one generation to the next. Available data, while inadequate, suggests that the region of Latin America and the Caribbean exhibits some of the highest rates of family violence in the world. It has been estimated thatmore than 6 million children suffer abuse and more than 80,000 die each year as result of it. This study supports this hypothesis with empirical evidence from large sample surveys in urban Colombia (1993) and Mexico City (1999). The authors find that over 2 million children and youth, and 23 percent of families, experience abuse in urban Colombia, and that 1 million children and 13 percent ofhouseholds do so in Mexico City. Data on the intergenerational transmission of this type of violence are also included. The report analyzes the impact of child abuse on children’s educational outcomes and adult labor wages, using a human capital framework. It finds robust evidence of the impacts of child violence on school attendance and educational attainment in Colombia and on adult wages in Mexico...