CAIRO, June 5 (Aswat Masriya) - Sixty- eight per cent of  the reports received on the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) emergency line are related to physical violence against children, said the council's secretary general on Sunday.

Secretary General Hala Abu Ali said that 22 per cent of the reports are related to psychological violence while 10 per cent are reports of sexual violence.

In a conference tackling domestic violence and its impact on children, Abu Ali said that domestic violence is often due to flawed family relations and unawareness of upbringing methods.

Abu Ali referred to a 2015 study conducted by NCCM and the UNICEF which recommended that a  national child protection policy to be adopted in schools, perpetrators of violence against children to be prosecuted and specialized support services to be provided for children experiencing extreme abuse.  

The recommendations also included that parents and families should have the support needed to raise children without violence and called for a long-term national media campaign to promote non-violent child discipline and raise awareness of the impact of violence on children.

Somaya al-Alfy, general director of NCCM's General Administration for Development and Gender, said that between 133-275 million child around the world are subjected to domestic violence annually.

She added that the harmful traditional practices done to children include female genital mutilation, forced marriage and physical violence that causes scars or burns on the skin.

According to NCCM and UNICEF study, violence may lead to "devastating impact" on children which include mental health problems, developmental and behavioural consequences such as antisocial behavior and in some cases fatal or non-fatal injuries which may lead to disabilities.