National Assembly Delegate informs: 3,546 children abused in more than 2 years - just the tip of the iceberg

The implementation of policies and laws on child abuse prevention and control is one of two topics selected by the National Assembly Standing Committee for discussion in the hall after reviewing recommendations and proposals according to the National Assembly's 2020 supervision program.

Child abuse - a warning of moral decline

At the discussion session, the majority of delegates agreed with choosing the topic of monitoring the implementation of policies and laws on preventing and combating child abuse.

The National Assembly discussed the proposed National Assembly Supervision Program for 2020.

Delegate Trieu Thi Thu Phuong - National Assembly Delegation of Bac Kan province said that according to the statistical report provided by the National Assembly Library on the situation of child abuse in 2017 - 2018 and the first quarter of 2019, it shows that: nationwide, there were 3,499 cases, with 3,546 cases of child abuse detected, of which over 60% were children sexually abused. Acts and cases of child abuse are only detected and handled when they reach the criminal threshold.

Delegate Trieu Thi Thu Phuong - National Assembly Delegation of Bac Kan province.

Therefore, the numbers listed are just the tip of the iceberg. In reality, the number is much larger because families and victims do not report the cases, fearing that the information will affect the children in the family.

Notably, the rate of children being abused by family members is high at over 21.3%, nearly 60% are abused by acquaintances and neighbors. It is estimated that about 68.4% of children aged 1-14 years old have to endure at least 1 physical and psychological punishment by family members, the nature of violence and child abuse cases is increasingly serious, causing outrage in society.

Some delegates said that acts of violence against children seriously violate ethical standards. Many cases of child sexual abuse are alarming signs of moral degradation, such as gang rape, rape and murder of children, elderly people raping young children, teachers sexually abusing many students, sexually abusing male children, incest such as biological fathers sexually abusing their biological daughters, stepfathers raping their wives' children for a long time... causing public outrage in recent times.

One of the reasons for the above situation is that child protection work in many places has not received adequate and timely attention. Many children have not received the necessary attention, care, education and protection, so they have been abused both physically and mentally. Many cases and acts of child abuse have not been detected and prevented in time, and some cases have not been strictly handled. Legal documents still have certain gaps, there is a lack of regulations implementing policies on child protection; there is a lack of staff working on children and there is a lack of attention and supervision from elected bodies.

Delegate To Van Tam (Kon Tum province) stated that the survey results showed that there are about 1.75 million children under the age of adulthood who have to do hard labor or work in conditions harmful to their health, with cheap labor. Their working hours are forced to be 11, 12 hours, even 16 hours/day. Children are not only exploited but also victims of human trafficking, which is becoming increasingly complex and serious. Some are trafficked domestically, some are sold abroad. Many children are abandoned and not recognized.

After discussion, the National Assembly conducted an electronic consultation with National Assembly deputies on the topic of supervision at the 9th session in 2020. As a result, 383 deputies (accounting for 79.13% of the total number of deputies) voted in favor of selecting thematic supervision of the implementation of policies and laws on preventing and combating child abuse.

Results of consulting National Assembly deputies on the content of the National Assembly's thematic supervision in 2020.