The aim of this article is to report the prevalence of youth victimization and poly-victimization in northern Chile. Using the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire, a sample of 706 adolescents ages 12 to 17 were surveyed. The results indicated that 89% of the participants had experienced victimization at least once in their lives and 76.8% had experienced at least 1 experience of victimization in the past year. The most frequent forms were conventional crimes (70% and 54.7%), witnessing and indirect victimization (63.2% and 45.2%), and peer and sibling victimization (50.0% and 34.6%), for the lifetime and the past year, respectively. Sexual victimization was less common for both time periods, but still relevant (15.9% lifetime and 9.9% past year). Older females and younger adolescents presented a higher risk of victimization particularly in conventional crimes and victimization by caregivers. As for poly-victimization, 21% of the adolescents presented between 4 and 6 different forms of victimization (the low poly-victimization group) and 16% reported seven or more (the high poly-victimization group) in the last year. The results showed that child and adolescent victimization is a significant problem in Chile. Percentages of victimization in Chilean adolescents were higher than those found in Europe or North America. Results from the group of poly-victims reinforces the need to evaluate the multiple forms of victimization that affect adolescents in Chile and to prioritize it in the design of the treatment of the consequences of violence, taking into account differences in gender and age.

In Chile, there is a little information about child and youth poly-victimization in a national representative sample. The aim of this study was to investigate the lifetime prevalence of victimization and poly-victimization in a large Chilean community sample of children and youth aged 12– 18 years. The sample consisted of 19,648 children and youth (M = 14.72, SD = 1.52), 49.7% males, and 50.3% females, recruited from 699 secondary schools in 15 regions from Chile. The Spanish version of the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire was applied, assessing six aggregate categories of childhood victimization (conventional crimes, caregiver, peer and sibling, witnessed and indirect, sexual, and electronic victimization). Descriptive analyzes were conducted to establish the prevalence of six types of victimizations and poly-victimization. Odds ratios were used to estimate differences between the genders and age groups. A total of 91.8% males and 93.8% females reported at least one type of victimization in their lifetimes. Females were generally more exposed to victimization than males and older youth were more exposed to victimization than early youth. Results indicated that exposure to multiple types of victimization was very common, indeed, the most victimized group (polivictims) reported 14 or more types of victimization in their lifetimes. This study provided a more general view of the child and youth victimization in Chilean population and new information on the epidemiology of victimization in the international context.

This study examined the prevalence of victimization and polyvictimization and gender differences in young adults from Arica in northern Chile. In all, 718 college students participated (46.9% men, 53.1% women), aged between 17 and 28 years old (M = 21.6; SD = 4.11). The Spanish version of Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire ( JVQ) was used to access five categories of child victimization (conventional crime, child maltreatment, peer and siblings victimization, sexual victimization, and indirect victimization). In total, 98.7% of young adults reported at least one type of victimization throughout their life. In general, males are more exposed to victimization for conventional crimes and indirect victimization and women to sexual victimization and bullying. A total of 89.1% of the sample was considered polyvictims (i.e., experienced five or more forms of victimization). This research provides information about the epidemiology of victimization and polyvictimization in young adults in the international context, and is the first study from this point of view in a South American country. The results show that young adults in northern Chile experience a high level of victimization, even mostly higher than others studies realized in the international context. Gender is a variable that has a significant influence and must be taken into account in the analyses of this complex subject of study.

This study examined the prevalence and risk factors associated to victimization by caregivers in a national large sample of Chilean children and adolescents. 19,687 children and adolescents aged 12–17, selected by random probability sampling of 699 public schools in Chile who were surveyed by trained interviewers. Victimization by Caregivers was evaluated through a module of the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ). The prevalence (12 months) for physical abuse were (12.9%), for emotional abuse (27.9%), neglect (5.3%) and parental interference (3.5%). The results suggest as risk factors, sex, age, migration status, disability, geographical location, and type of school. The findings highlight the urgent need to address the issue of child maltreatment and victimization by caregivers in Chilean society and minimize its impact.

El objetivo de la presente investigación es determinar la prevalencia de victimización sexual y características asociadas, en una muestra nacional de niños, y adolescentes chilenos. Se trabajó con datos secundarios de la Encuesta Nacional de Polivictimización (2017). La muestra fue de tipo probabilístico e incluyó a 19.684 participantes entre 12 y 18 años (M = 14,7, DT = 1,59) de todas las regiones de Chile continental. Los participantes respondieron una adaptación del Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ) que evalúa diferentes formas de violencia. Para este estudio únicamente se consideraron siete ítems referidos a victimización sexual. Los resultados muestran que el 26,4% reporta al menos un tipo de victimización sexual a lo largo de su vida y que el 16,7% reporta al menos una victimización sexual durante los últimos 12 meses. Análisis de regresión logística muestran mayor probabilidad de sufrir victimización sexual en las mujeres, en adolescentes de mayor edad, provenientes de colegios de menor nivel socioeconómico y de regiones. Además, la probabilidad fue mayor en migrantes, en participantes pertenecientes a minorías étnicas y en aquellos con alguna discapacidad. Se discuten estos resultados en vías de la visibilización de la magnitud de la victimización sexual infantojuvenil y de la generación de estrategias de prevención.