Three-quarters of Chilean children abused , says U.N. report

SANTIAGO, Aug 25 (Reuters) -- Child abuse in Chile, where one in every four children suffers severe physical aggression, has fallen slightly since 1994 because of an awareness campaign but continues to be widespread, a U.N. report said on Friday.

A study by UNICEF found that 73.6 percent of children in Chile had suffered some type of violence -- either physical or psychological -- from their parents at some point in their lives.

That was an improvement over 1994, when the U.N. children's agency took its last such survey and found a violence rate of 77.5 percent.

"Nevertheless, child abuse continues to be a frequent conduct in Chilean families," the report said.

The percentage of children who had experienced physical violence fell to 53.9 percent this year from 63 percent in 1994, but for psychological abuse, the figure rose to 19.7 percent from 14.5 percent, according to the report.

Severe physical aggression -- defined as having been hit with an object or beaten -- fell to 25.4 percent from 34.3 percent, it said.

The authors credited a government awareness campaign for the generally improved situation. Data came from interviews across the country with 1,525 children aged between 12 and 17.

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