Fifteen years ago in Beijing world leaders promised to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls. Yet today, thousands of young girls all over the world still face violence that no one, let alone a child, should ever know. It can take different forms: daily physical and psychological abuse, rape, forced marriages, sex-trafficking, so called “honour killings”, or kidnapping. Much of the suffering remains hidden behind shame, fear, ignorance or indifference.

UN Radio traveled to Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Africa to hear the stories of some young girls who have survived abuse, but have not lost hope for a better future.

Listen: Violence
[audio:http://downloads.unmultimedia.org/radio/en/ltd/mp3/2010/project15_VIOLENCE.mp3|titles=Violence]

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Produced by Elena Vapnitchnaia

Raquel lives in São Paulo, the largest city in Brazil

“He would knock me down to the floor and start kicking, and kicking, and kicking, and kicking, and kicking, and kicking, to the belly and everywhere…”

Raquel used to live with her grandmother in Sapopemba, a neighborhood in the eastern part of São Paulo, the largest city in Brazil. When she was 13, she fell in love with a 24-year old man. He moved in and three months later she got pregnant. Her boyfriend became furious and started beating her…