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Opinion | Overdue child abuse law reforms a good place to start for Hong Kong’s policy address

  • Changes should include a requirement to report suspected child abuse, while psychological and online abuse must also be covered, and corporal punishment banned in all situations

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If child abuse is properly addressed, it will also be a positive investment in the future. Photo: Shutterstock
If there was any doubt over what to prioritise in the forthcoming policy address, the latest child abuse statistics from the Social Welfare Department should provide a valuable focus.
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In the first quarter of this year, 279 cases were recorded, up from 166 in the same period last year, with girls the primary victims. Physical abuse accounted for 113 cases, sexual assault for 86 cases, neglect for 67 cases, psychological abuse for three cases, while 10 cases involved multiple abuse.

Indeed, between 1999 and 2019, the Social Welfare Department reported a 75 per cent rise in child abuse cases, with an average of six deaths a year. Last year, it received 940 new reports of child abuse, with 57 per cent involving girls.

Whereas 41.4 per cent of the cases last year concerned physical abuse, 33.3 per cent involved sexual abuse, 21.4 per cent were neglect-related, 1.1 per cent involved psychological abuse, and 2.9 per cent were multiple abuse cases.

But, however instructive, the department’s statistics are incomplete, and most child abuse cases never appear on the radar. There is, of course, no statutory duty to report suspected cases, and this hinders early intervention to protect vulnerable children.

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Even professionals have sometimes failed to follow up on warning signs, while others have simply treated a child’s suffering as “none of my business”. The case, therefore, for mandatory reporting is now irrefutable.

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