Those who deal with development cooperation, peace research, migration and flight often look with regret at Africa, a continent that is still crisis-ridden and unstable. And those who search for the causes of the so frequent poverty, famines, wars, corruption, probably mention the historical facts of colonization and exploitation of many African regions and countries. However, there is another important, largely forgotten factor that prevents the development of peaceful societies in Africa - and which the Africans themselves have to eliminate: the exorbitant violence against children that exists in most countries of the continent: The author calls it the "real African Trauma".

Franz Jedlicka is a postgraduate student at the Unversity of Vienna, Austria.