UNICEF says physical abuse around the region is unacceptably high, and causing long-term damage to the lives and futures of far too many children
A report on child maltreatment in East Asia and the Pacific, has found that as many as 8 out of 10 children in the region experience physical abuse.
UNICEF's Pacific Child Protection Specialist, Salote Kaimacuata says the report looks at studies conducted in 2008, which found that most communities don't have plans in place to help keep children safe from violence.
She says new studies from the North Pacific and Samoa are tending to show similar numbers.
"The parents and the adults say that this is their form of disciplining children, and making them behave, but the response from children is basically, they are asking that adults just speak to them wisely, explain the rules so that they don't break them again and list to them and what their worries are."
UNICEF's Salote Kaimacuata.
