Child abuse a growing problem around the world

A hospitalized child in Chile is just one of a growing number of abused children in the South American country

November 22, 1999
Web posted at: 11:54 p.m. EST (0454 GMT)

In this story: Broadcasters also focus on youth, the disabled, the disadvantaged Disabled hotel workers, deaf dancers make great strides Ship of Fools docks in Spain Ceausescu's treasures up for sale Tourist coverage highlights Peru, Iran RELATED STORIES, SITES

By Scott Herron and Kevin Grieves
CNN World Report

News reports tell of child abuse becoming a serious problem in many countries.

For example, a recent study indicates that in the United States, there may be more than twice as many deaths caused by child abuse than are being reported.

Chile is another case in point.

Chilean National Television reported recently on CNN World Report that a majority of children in that South American country are abused, and that is prompting the government to launch a campaign to try to stop it.

CNT Reporter Claudia Corvalan told viewers: "According to a research project carried out by UNICEF and the University of Chile, 63 percent of the children polled in the study have suffered some type of physical violence from their parents. Of these, 34 percent had received severe punishment.

"The investigation also reveals that 14.5 percent of the children had been psychologically abused. Another extremely alarming result of the investigation is that many minors are also physically punished or abused by their teachers at school."

Broadcasters also focus on youth, the disabled, the disadvantaged

Children's issues, and stories about the disabled and disadvantaged, got prominent play on CNN World Report last week.

In addition to CNT's story on child abuse in Chile, the Philippines' ABS-CBN reported on a priest's efforts to help street children in Manila; Romanian TV told viewers about a program to benefit orphans and abandoned children in Romania; RNTV profiled mentally challenged workers at a hotel in the Netherlands; and Telecinco offered a glimpse of deaf dancers in Spain.

Russian contestants at the International Geography Olympiad in Toronto search for the right answer

CNN World Report viewers also learned about villagers forced from their homes by Israeli-backed militiamen in southern Lebanon in a report by Future TV, and about a program to provide compensation to Poles whose property was confiscated during the communist era in Central Europe. Polish Television provided coverage of that.

Two other contributors highlighted the achievements of young adults.

GMA-7 News of the Philippines told viewers about a program to introduce young people to politics, and Canada's CBC provided coverage of the International Geography Olympiad in Toronto.

Teen-agers from around the world showed off their knowledge at the geography contest in Canada, with a team from the United States defeating defending champion Canada, and Russia in the finals. Reporter Adrienne Arsenault covered the championship round for CBC and CNN World Report.

A Russian contestant gave this assessment of the quiz: "Unfortunately, I'm not very happy right now. But I like it very much."

And one of the Canadian youngsters lamented: "They just started asking some of the other guys some easier questions. They started asking us really hard questions."

Disabled hotel workers, deaf dancers make great strides

RNTV's story about the Hotel Abrona in the village of Oudewater showed how workers with mental and psychiatric problems can overcome their disabilities if given the chance by a patient employer.

Reporter Kolijn van Beurden said that hotel manager Rien Lindeman "knows that his employees have their limitations, but also their possibilities. And that's what he wants to develop."

The hotel is the first of its kind in the Netherlands, and it hopes eventually to provide jobs to 40 mentally disabled people while still turning a profit.

The tale about the deaf dancers centered on the work of Alicia Sanchez, who has invented a form of hand language to show her dancers how to move to music they cannot hear.

"With my hands I'm a bridge between the music and the deaf dancers," she told Telecinco reporter Maria Xose Lopez. "With my hands I do every step, everything they have to do. I show them everything ... They don't learn by magic. It's very demanding."

Sanchez has been teaching deaf children for 32 years.

"Day by day, they all try to obtain a world with no barriers," Xose Lopez said.

Following her troupe's performance at the Spanish Traditional Dance Contest for deaf people, Sanchez said: "Even deaf people doubted our dancers were really deaf and only I and the tambourine player could hear."

Ship of Fools docks in Spain

A scary-faced performer is just one of many similar cast and crew members who make up the Ship of Fools

Telecinco provided coverage of another story with connections to the Netherlands, and several other nations. It transported viewers to another world, a world of silly costumes, fantastic masks and a Ship of Fools.

It was about a multiethnic theater group that set sail from Amsterdam in search of ports where its actors can put on a show.

Ship of Fools Captain August Dirkins told Telecinco: "We want to communicate all over the world a message of liberty, of cultural exchange, looking for people of all cultures..."

It's not an easy job for the actors and crew members who call Russia, Chile, the Netherlands, Germany and South Africa home.

"You have to give up everything material," explained actress Irina Gallardo Baez. "Here personal space is very small. You can't have your own TV, your wonderful hi-fi, because you don't have enough room. But it is really nice; it's absolutely another life."

Ceausescu's treasures up for sale

Once the playthings of a virtual king, items such as these were among hundreds on the auction block in Romania

Romanian TV gave CNN World Report viewers a rare glimpse of another sort of life with its coverage of the sale of the personal belongings of former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Hundreds of objects confiscated from Ceausescu's estate were put on the auction block.

Ceausescu fell from power in a popular revolt in 1989. Both he and his wife, Elena, were executed.

Reporter Nicolae Melinescu listed just a few of the many items for sale, including fur coats, glassware, portraits and carpets.

"On the driveway, seven cars ... the star of them all, the Buick given to Ceausescu by the American President Richard Nixon."

Not all of Ceausescu's booty was for sale.

"An important number of objects have been taken by the Ministry of Culture, which has the brilliant idea of putting them in a future museum of totalitarian rule," said Aurel Vlaicu, director of the Protocol Company.

Tourist coverage highlights Peru, Iran

Thrill-seeking tourists shoot the rapids in the wild whitewaters of Peru

A recent canyoning accident in the Swiss Alps hasn't dampened the enthusiasm of so-called extreme sport adventurers elsewhere around the world, especially if the backdrop is the peaks of the Andes.

Peru's Global Network took viewers of CNN World Report on a wild ride down river rapids near Cuzco, the former capital of the Incas that sits 3,360 meters above sea level.

The report by Josefina Townsend showed vacation-adventurers white-water rafting, canyoning and hang gliding.

Tourism in Iran is more serene, judging from a report by IRIB, the CNN World Report contributor in Iran.

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CNN's Mehdi Pourzand reports on Iran's tourist attractions.
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Reporter Mehdi Pourzand told viewers: "Experts consider Iran as one of the 10 most attractive countries for tourists.

"Tourists not only will enjoy the beauty of Iran's ancient and historical sites, but also meet a very hospitable and friendly people in this country."