Liam Neeson spotlights child abuse for UNICEF

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UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Liam Neeson is highlighting violence against children in a video to launch a UNICEF initiative on what the actor calls a largely "invisible" global scourge.

The video shows scenes that hint at a child's suffering: A fallen bicycle in an alleyway, a broken glass in a kitchen. Neeson says in the video: "This is a 15-year-old girl being gang raped ... And here a toddler is being hit by his mother for breaking a glass."

Neeson is the Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, the U.N. children's agency.

UNICEF says in a statement Wednesday that its initiative "builds on growing popular outrage" over the shooting deaths of 26 children and educators in Newtown, Connecticut, the 2012 shooting of 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai in Pakistan and gang rapes of girls in India and South Africa.

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On the internet:

UNICEF: www.unicef.org

Public service announcement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?vUBEryzHILiw