ONCE AGAIN, THE NARRATIVE IS WRONG: Boys were more likely to report being victims of physical neglect, sexual abuse and violence, the study found. “The study from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health looked at childhood traumas suffered by 1,284 adolescents aged 10 to 14 in more than a dozen low-income urban settings around the world, such as the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Egypt and Bolivia. Overall, 46 per cent of young adolescents reported experiencing violence, 38 per cent said they suffered emotional neglect and 29 per cent experienced physical neglect. Boys, however, were more likely to report being victims of physical neglect, sexual abuse and violence.”

Plus: “For the past six years, a consortium of 15 countries led by the Bloomberg School of Public Health and the World Health Organization has been working on the global early adolescent study. The aim is to understand how gender norms are formed in early adolescence and how they predispose young people to sexual and other health risks. Evidence gathered by the study indicates boys experience as much disadvantage as girls but are more likely to smoke, drink and suffer injury and death in the second decade of life than their female counterparts.”