The statistical report, which since 2019 has been delivered by the organization with data provided by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, reveals that during the past year, 40,361 reports of this kind were filed, which is 3.9% less than in 2022 when a historic peak was reported. The numbers reflect a stabilization of incoming cases following a 42% increase in 2022, in comparison to the numbers reported prior to the pandemic.
A decrease of 3.9% was recorded during 2023 in reported sex crimes against children and teens in Chile. This number is from the most recent statistical study by Fundación Amparo y Justicia based on data provided by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The report reveals that last year there were 40,361 reports of sex crimes against children, compared to 41,999 reported in 2022, which was considered the highest ever recorded.
According to the Foundation, this drop reflects a stabilization in the number of incoming cases, after a considerable increase in the number of reports in 2022: 42% more than those registered before the pandemic, when institutions returned to normal operations and schools returned to in-person classes.
“The growth rate has stabilized. This phenomenon has been observed in countries such as the United Kingdom, where cases of child sexual abuse increased by 70% following the pandemic,” explains Nicolás Pietrasanta, Head of Studies and Public Policies at Fundación Amparo y Justicia.
However, despite this drop, the number of reports of crimes of this type remains above 40,000, an alarming number considering that worldwide studies have estimated that more than 80% of rapes and sexual assaults involving children and teens go unreported.
The study, which has been conducted by Fundación Amparo y Justicia since 2019, analyzed on this occasion the data from the Public Prosecutor’s Office recorded between 2006 and 2023. During this period, 362,355 reports were filed involving child and teen victims. Compared to 2006, the number of reports has increased by 3.21 to date.
Profile of reports
According to the study, girls and teens continue to be the most affected, with 84.3% of the reports filed, compared to 15.7% for male victims, which grew by 14.1% in 2023.
In addition, 70.3% of the reports correspond to children or teens between 10 and 17 years of age, which reflects the greater awareness that teens have about their rights. On the other hand, it is more difficult to identify this type of crime at younger ages (11.4% of victims are between 0 and 5 years old).
As for the type of assault, 77.6% corresponded to sexual abuse, followed by rape (13.5%), sexual exploitation (3.4%), and statutory rape (2.7%). Between 2022 and 2023, reports of rape tripled.
The entity that received the most reports of this type was the Public Prosecutor’s Office (28.8%), followed by the Carabineros Police (25.5%), the Investigations Police (13.5%), and finally by courts and tribunals (9.5%).
Other worrisome statistics
A significant number of these cases are dismissed. According to the research, 68.4% of the cases in 2023 had non-judicial exits, with 60% of them being closed. “The high proportion of closed cases reflects the need to improve prosecution results,” warns Nicolás Pietrasanta.
At the same time, the study shows that only 38.9% of children and teens registered as victims in 2023 had access to a videotaped investigative interview, for which this act was promoted by Fundación Amparo y Justicia to provide greater protection to victims. “For almost two decades we have promoted this public policy that seeks to prevent the secondary victimization of children and teens who are victims of sexual and other serious crimes, as well as to facilitate the collection of their testimonies for use in the prosecution process. For this reason, we believe that institutions should make every effort to ensure that no child or teen victim who is in a position to give his or her story is left without an interview,” concludes the expert.
