Peru registers almost 10 thousand cases of sexual abuse of minors so far in 2025

Lima.- Peru attended to 9,880 cases of sexual abuse of children and adolescents between January and October of this year, reported the Ministry of Health (Minsa) within the framework of the World Day for the Prevention and Recovery of Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Violence. Regarding this, the executive director of the Mental Health Directorate of Minsa, July Caballero, added in a statement that 26.5% of the total cases, equivalent to 2,617, corresponded to girls and boys up to 11 years of age.

“Violence against women and against girls, boys and adolescents, especially sexual violence, requires priority attention, as it profoundly affects the mental health of the victims, disrupts their daily lives at home, school, work and in all the spaces in which they operate”, said Caballero.

He considered that the impact of these cases “does not fall solely on the direct victims, but also on their families and the community in general“. In 2024, between the months of January to October, the establishments of the Ministry of Health attended to 10,908 cases of girls, boys, and adolescents who were victims of sexual abuse, according to official figures.

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However, the Vice Minister of Women, Ana Sofía Rodríguez, reported in April of this year, during a session of the Women and Family Commission of Congress, that in 2024, 22,788 cases of sexual violence against children and adolescents were attended through the Emergency Women’s Centers (CEM), of which 8,417 were specifically sexual rape. The Ministry of Health added that the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 650 million girls and women were victims of sexual violence during their childhood, equivalent to one in five cases. Furthermore, between 410 and 530 million children and men, equivalent to 1 in 7, reported having suffered similar incidents. The ministry emphasized, in that sense, the importance of raising awareness about the risks and warning signs related to these abuses, as well as the accompaniment and the need for comprehensive care for the victims.