Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee: Party committees and authorities at all levels must have a deeper awareness of child protection work.

On the morning of October 21, the People's Committee of Nghe An province held an online conference on child abuse prevention with 21 local connections.

Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Alternate Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee chaired at the bridge point of the Provincial People's Committee Office.

Also presiding at the main bridge were comrade Doan Hong Vu - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs; Colonel Nguyen Manh Hung - Deputy Director of the Provincial Police.

Attending the conference at the Provincial People's Committee bridge were representatives of leaders of departments, branches, mass organizations, and provincial-level agencies such as: Provincial Party Committee's Internal Affairs Committee, Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department, Provincial Fatherland Front Committee; Provincial Military Command; Provincial Border Guard Command...

Panorama of the online conference at the Provincial People's Committee bridge. Photo: Thanh Nga

The number of child abuse cases is increasing, many cases are complicated.

Within 5 years in Nghe An province, 134 children were abused, of which 128 were girls and 6 were boys. 6 children were abused violently; 99 children were sexually abused; 29 children were trafficked.

According to statistics from sectors in child protection and care, the subjects who commit acts of abuse are mainly adults, mostly men; the subjects who buy and sell children are mainly women.

In particular, most of the subjects who commit acts of child abuse have a certain relationship with relatives or the abused children themselves, such as: biological father, stepfather, friends, neighbors, people responsible for taking care of, or acquaintances of the children.

It is necessary to strengthen propaganda in a timely and effective manner to raise social awareness as well as condemn acts of violence and child abuse. Illustration photo: Dinh Tuan

Methods and tricks of child abuse are very diverse, but mainly subjects take advantage of relationships with children or their relatives to approach and commit acts of abuse against children, especially cases of sexual abuse and child trafficking.

Once approached, the subjects use all means, taking advantage of their trust or influence or enticing children such as giving them money, letting them use their phones, inviting them to go out..., threatening them to commit acts of abuse.

Notably, recently, the authorities have discovered a new criminal method: The subjects seek out families with pregnant women about to give birth in mountainous areas and ethnic minorities to lure and entice them to go to China to give birth and then sell the children to Chinese people for 80-140 million VND per case.

Through screening in Ky Son district, there were 25 cases of pregnant women going to China to give birth, among which, the police force verified and clarified 06 cases that confessed that after giving birth, they sold their children back in China.

Authorities help a woman from Huu Kiem commune (Ky Son) return home after being lured to China to give birth. Photo: Document

Child abuse cases occur in most areas across the province, especially in mountainous and midland districts, rural areas, mountainous areas, remote areas where the educational level is low; the parents of the victims are subjective and lack care for their children.

Grassroots Party Committee and Governmentneed to raise awareness and responsibility

During the 2015 - 2019 period, all levels and sectors applied support measures to 13,986 children at risk of abuse and promptly applied intervention measures to 134 abused children.

Thereby, it has reduced the number of children in special circumstances, abused children, children at risk of violence, exploitation, and abandonment; raised awareness and responsibility of authorities at all levels, the community, and children in child protection.

Mr. Dau Vinh Thinh - Vice Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee delivered a speech at the conference. Photo: Thanh Nga

During the conference, the majority of delegates participating at the conference points said that the reason sexual abuse cases continue to increase is due to the lack of proper attention from authorities at all levels, families, and child guardians.

Regarding this issue, Ms. Vi Thi Quyen - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ky Son district said: many local Party committees and authorities are still indifferent and have incorrect awareness about preventing risks that children may be abused.

Mr. Dau Vinh Thinh - Vice Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee also agreed with the view and said: each officer working with children needs to raise awareness and expertise in preventing crimes against children, so that prevention work can be carried out from the grassroots level.

Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy concluded at the conference. Photo: Thanh Nga

Receiving the opinions presented at the conference, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Thai Thanh Quy said: Although there are core forces participating in child work, child abuse cases continue to increase, so it is necessary to further raise awareness of Party committees and authorities. Core forces at the grassroots level themselves need to have a firm grasp of regulations and documents on child work; clearly define their responsibilities.

In addition, it is necessary to improve propaganda work in the social community. Sectors and levels need to have creative propaganda methods, suitable for the target audience and each locality.

Special attention should be paid to improving education and skills training for children, especially children between 8 and 14 years old. There should be a close coordination mechanism between families, schools and localities; there should be a mechanism to provide accurate and timely information, thereby promptly preventing possible risks.

Preventing the risk of child abuse is very difficult, so we need to focus on directing the building of models, to spread effective methods, to limit the number of incidents that occur.

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested: After this conference, sectors and localities need to strengthen inspection and supervision work, comprehensively review children's work in the past 5 years; have a specific and systematic plan to make certain changes in the coming time, and report before November 30 to the Provincial People's Committee.

In addition, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs needs to advise on immediately organizing extensive activities in the community on child protection and care.