Thirty years of abuse and violence at SOS Children’s Villages in Suriname

SOS Children’s Villages in Suriname experienced sexual, physical, emotional and financial abuse from its foundation in 1972 until its closure in 2006. Research agency Verinorm confirms this on Thursday after reporting by News hour.

Some of the 19 people who participated in the study witnessed “very serious acts of violence against babies, sometimes their own sister or brother,” quotes News hour from the Verinorm study. Children of an ‘SOS aunt’ allegedly let victims fight with each other and sponsorship money was allegedly stolen.

Research

In 2021 it became known that dozens of children in SOS Children’s Villages institutions in twenty countries have been victims of sexual abuse and physical violence, among other things. After these revelations, three victims of abuse in Suriname came forward, after which SOS Kinderdorpen commissioned more extensive research into the location in Paramaribo.

The full study will be published later Thursday evening. SOS Children’s Villages is also expected to issue a statement around that time. Opposite News hour the charity says the long-standing abuse “goes against everything we stand for”.

Read also Children victims of sexual abuse and violence at SOS Children’s Villages

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