Speaking Out! Voices of Children and Adolescents in East Asia and the Pacific

UNICEF surveyed 10,073 children and young people aged 9-17 years in 17 countries and territories in East Asia and the Pacific. The young people interviewed were a representative sample of the children in each country and territory in terms of age, gender, geographic location (urban and rural) and socio-economic status. The countries involved were Australia, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Macao, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Republic of Korea, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and in most the sample size was 500 children. The research was coordinated by Research International Asia's Thailand office.

Interviews were conducted door to door. The questionnaires were administered in the children's homes but without the presence of parents. The survey asked children about their knowledge of their rights, HIV/AIDS and other related issues, and their perceptions and opinions on family life, school and society. Nearly three out of five children said that there was "screaming" in this homes, most commonly in Vietnam (89%) and Papua New Guinea (79%) and least commonly in Macau (30%) and overall most commonly in rural areas. Almost one third (29%) reported that people hit each other in the home, ranging from 14% in Singapore, 17% in China and 19% in Mongolia to 75% in Papua New Guinea. Beating as a punishment was reported by 23% and occurred most frequently for boys, younger children, and children in rural areas. The highest figures for beating as punishment were 53% in East Timor, 44% in Cambodia and 40% in Myanmar; the lowest were 1% in Australia and 7% in Mongolia. Children in all countries reported that feeling sad was usually the result of being punished or scolded.

UNICEF (2001), Speaking Out! Voices of Children and Adolescents in East Asia and the Pacific
Further information available at: http://www.unicef.org/polls/eapro/index.html

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