1,914 Child abuse cases reported Nationwide

[ASEAN NOW News]

According to the MoLISA’s report, in 2021, the Ministry of Public Security detected 1,914 child abuse cases nationwide, an annual decrease of thirty-one cases. However, a number of severe cases that outraged the public took place.

 

 

In the past few weeks AseanNow.com have reported several cases of child abuse.

 

Hanoi Times reported that two famous Vietnamese artists are under investigation in Spain for the accusation of sexual abuse of adolescents and privacy infringement.

 

According to the Embassy of Vietnam in Spain, police in the Spanish island of Mallorca on June 25 announced that they arrested two Vietnamese nations for allegation of “sexual abuse of teenagers” and “privacy infringement.”

 

In another report, a commune official in the north central Thanh Hoa Province has been caught on security camera sexually harassing a 16-year-old girl.

 

Luong Van Toi, head of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front of Xuan Thang Commune, has been suspended for 15 days by the Standing District Party Committee pending an investigation into his "moral, lifestyle violations," Do Xuan Nam, Party secretary of Thuong Xuan District, said Monday.

 

On Sunday, police in Gia Lai Province's Chu Se District arrested Duong for having sexual intercourse with a person under 16 years of age.

 

The police say that Duong hired the girl to help at his curtain factory on June 18.

 

Later he took her to Phu Cuong Waterfall in Ia Pal Commune and had sex with her.

 

The girl informed her family after she got home.

 

Duong then went to the victim's house to negotiate compensation, but the girl's family rejected his efforts and reported his actions to the police.

 

These are just a cross-section of reports that have made the headlines in the past few weeks.

 

Relatives account for 72.84% of abuses

 

Meanwhile, child protection, particularly against domestic violence, had yet to receive adequate attention. MoLISA’s report said children abused by their relatives accounted for the lion’s share of the total cases last year, at 72.84 percent, which represented an annual increase of 5.3 percent.

 

The National Assembly (NA)’s committees for culture-education, justice, and social affairs back in February convened a session to discuss and put forth solutions for violence against children that shocked the public recently.

Chairing the function, Politburo member and Permanent NA Vice Chairman Tran Thanh Man said it reflects the law-making body’s responsibilities for issues of concerns among constituents, people, and the public opinion; and supervises the implementation of the NA’s regulation on the protection and education of the children.

Man requested a clear analysis of causes of the child abuse issue and responsibilities of agencies involved, and called for proposals and recommendations for the Party, NA, and Government to complete and better implement the law on anti-violence against children.

 

Meanwhile, child protection, particularly against domestic violence, had yet to receive adequate attention. A report by the helpline 111, an emergency telephone number for child protection, said children abused by their relatives accounted for the lion’s share of the total cases last year, at 72.84 percent, which represented an annual increase of 5.3 percent.

The MoLISA’s report also pointed to a number of causes, including inadequate investment of resources for the child protection works, the moral degradation of a section of the society, and the emergence of mental health and psychosocial problems among part of the population.

 

Measures to fight sexual abuse and violence against children in family as well as locations receiving tipoffs and offering shelters for children, and helpline 111, an emergency telephone number for child protection, must be popularised.

 

Localities are also required to regularly check to detect in a timely manner high-risk location prone to child-related accidents and to call on organisations and individuals to support victims of abuse, orphans, and poor, ethnic and pandemic-hit children.

 

This is not only a concern in Vietnam but across the world.

 

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