Czechia Sees Record Surge in Child Abuse: Brutal Beatings, Burns and Sexual Violence

The annual report by the child social and legal protection authorities (OSPOD) for 2025 has recorded an alarming record: 11,441 cases of violence, neglect and abuse against children in Czechia — 1,286 more than the year before.

According to the report, 952 cases of physical abuse of children were registered, 414 of them repeated cases — the highest figure in the past decade. Cases of sexual abuse of children numbered 928, with 449 repeat cases, also a record for the entire period of observation.

Experts say they are not surprised by the alarming trend — they have been warning about it for years. "We've seen physical violence against children rising ever since the COVID pandemic. It's not just the number of victims that's growing, but the brutality itself — we're talking about savage beatings, being hit with objects, burns, attempted drowning, strangulation — conditions that are life-threatening," says Zora Dušková, deputy director of the Children's Crisis Center.

Petra Vinšová, founder of the Locika center for helping children and families, believes the official statistics understate the true scale of the problem: "The data is highly distorted. We don't have a complete picture of how many children are at risk, and the fact that OSPOD's official figures have started climbing is itself an alarming signal."

Human Rights Commissioner Taťána Malá (ANO) has discussed the issue with the police president. According to her, tackling violence against children must include not only harsher punishments but also education and support for parents.

According to the child helpline Linka bezpečí, the number of calls from children showing signs of battered and neglected child syndrome has been rising for three years in a row: 2,263 calls in 2023 (+13%), 2,433 in 2024 (+8%) and 2,996 in 2025 (+23%). Michaela Klofcová, a representative of the helpline, predicts this year's figures will remain at last year's level.

Zora Dušková links the problem to rising aggression in society as a whole: "There really is a lot of aggression around us — wars, as well as constant hidden violence in everyday life, including in politics, where rudeness beats out civility." She says Czech society owes children a serious debt, preferring to spend money on building repairs rather than on protecting childhood, while specialized support services are in catastrophically short supply.

Petra Vinšová speaks of an actual collapse of the child protection system: "For the past two or three years we've been warning that the system was on the verge of breaking down, and it seems that's already happened." She says OSPOD's working methods are outdated and can't keep up with the flow of current cases. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs is preparing to set up a central agency to provide methodological support to OSPOD, but did not respond to the editorial team's request for comment.

Police crime statistics on offences against minors also show an increase: the number of cases of abuse of a dependent person rose from 218 in 2019 to 258 in 2024, while the number of registered rapes climbed from 284 to 525 over the same period. Linda Sokačová, head of the Locika children's advocacy center, stresses that sexual abuse of children happens far more often than is commonly believed: in 2025 alone, 552 cases of rape of children under 18 were recorded, not counting other crimes such as sexual coercion, molestation and the distribution of child pornography, which is often produced by the perpetrators themselves.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz