Woe to those who harm the little ones

Those who harm children will have DIRE consequences to face!

http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L10606563

Dangers facing children around the world

Mon 10 Jul 2006 7:01 PM ET

July 11 (Reuters) - Kidnappings, rape and forced labour are some of the horrors inflicted on children highlighted in a Reuters AlertNet poll released on Tuesday to identify the world's most dangerous places to be a child.
Here are some statistics for dangers faced by children around the globe.

• Nearly 11 million children a year -- about 30,000 a day -- die before their fifth birthday, mostly from preventable causes.
• Out of 100 children born in 2000, 30 will likely suffer malnutrition, 26 will not be immunised and 17 will never go to school.
• n estimated 218 million children are used for labour. Millions work in especially horrific circumstances, including the virtual slavery of bonded labour.
• An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year for labour or sex.
• About 1 million children are thought to be exploited in the multi-billion dollar sex industry.
• There are over 300,000 child soldiers, some as young as eight, in more than 30 countries.
• More than 2 million children are thought to have died as a direct result of armed conflict in the past decade.
• Up to 10,000 children are killed or maimed by landmines each year.
• An estimated 100 million women and girls have undergone genital mutilation.

(Source: Unicef, International Labour Organization.)