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Some 2,000 Russian children and teenagers commit suicide annually

Russia’s index however is considered to be next to critical (20 cases per 100,000 under the criteria of the World Health Organization)

MOSCOW, October 11 (Itar-Tass) —— About 2,000 children and teenagers commit suicide in Russia each year, Yevgenia Panchenko, an expert from the State Serbsky Centre for Social and Forensic Psychiatry, told journalists.

“Each 12th teenager in Russia attempts suicide,” she said. According to statistics, as many as 19.3 suicide cases are registered per 100,000 adolescents aged from 15 to 19 years old. The figure is 14 in Belarus, and 46.5 – in Sri Lanka. Russia’s index however is considered to be next to critical (20 cases per 100,000 under the criteria of the World Health Organization).

According Valentina Badmayeva, head of the department for social and forensic psychiatry problems of minors, suicides among children and adolescents are often rooted in abuse. “Over the past ten years, the number of child abuse crimes has increased four-fold. About 100,000 such crimes are registered a year,” she cited statistics of the Russian Investigations Committee. “Violence or harassment against children in 60 percent of cases end in acute crisis reactions and psychic disorders.” More to it, such children tend to demonstrate aggressive behavior.

According to UNICEF, about 40 million children under 15 years of age across the globe suffer from ill treatment, desert and negligence.