Peer-reviewed article
VICTIMIZATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN AND ITS PREVENTION
Niyozova Salomat Saparovna ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examines violence against children in Uzbekistan as a serious problem affecting their development and rights. Rather than focusing only on offenders, the research identifies victimogenic factors—characteristics of children and their environments that make violence more likely and harder to detect. The study finds that children's age, dependency on offenders, exposure to family violence, and lack of support systems increase their vulnerability. The authors propose that prevention requires identifying risk factors early and strengthening protective factors through coordinated legal, psychological, and social responses.
Key points
- Child victimization is strongly influenced by age-related psychological vulnerability and dependency on offenders
- Exposure to family violence, emotional instability, and structurally embedded helplessness are major victimogenic factors
- Victimogenic characteristics increase susceptibility to violence and facilitate crime concealment
- Children exposed to violence face heightened risk of severe consequences, including suicidal behavior
- Prevention requires an integrated victimological-ecological framework emphasizing early risk identification and protective factors
Limitations
This is a legal and doctrinal analysis rather than an empirical study measuring intervention outcomes. The document does not provide quantitative data on prevalence, rates of violence, or the effectiveness of any specific prevention programs tested with children.
Abstract
Objective: This study examines violence against children as a persistent social and legal problem that threatens minors’ physical, psychological, and moral development and undermines the effective realization of their fundamental rights. While existing scholarship has extensively analyzed offender profiles, particularly cisgender male perpetrators, the victimological–ecological characteristics of child victims and their role in the emergence, concealment, and recurrence of violence remain insufficiently explored. Method: The research employs a qualitative legal and criminological approach, drawing on the analysis of national legislation, doctrinal literature in victimology and criminology, judicial and investigative practices, and findings from forensic psychological and psychiatric examinations. Systemic, logical, and comparative methods are used to identify victimogenic factors arising from interactions among offenders, victims, and their social environments. Results: The findings demonstrate that child victimization is strongly influenced by age-related psychological vulnerability, dependency on offenders, exposure to family violence, emotional instability, and structurally embedded helplessness. These victimogenic characteristics not only increase susceptibility to violence but also facilitate crime concealment and heighten the risk of severe consequences, including suicidal behavior. Novelty: This study advances victimological scholarship by shifting the analytical focus from offender-centered explanations to an integrated victimological–ecological framework, emphasizing prevention through early risk identification, reinforcement of protective factors, and coordinated legal, psychological, and social interventions.