The National Assembly delegation supervises the work of preventing and combating child abuse in Vinh city.

On the morning of August 22, the National Assembly's Supervisory Delegation on the implementation of policies and laws on child abuse prevention and control, led by comrade Le Thi Nga - Member of the Party Central Committee, Member of the Standing Committee, Chairwoman of the National Assembly's Judiciary Committee, had a working session with the People's Committee of Vinh city.

Attending the meeting were comrades: Le Ngoc Hoa - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Nguyen Thanh Hien - Deputy Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation; representatives of leaders of provincial departments, branches and sectors and leaders of Vinh City. Photo: Thanh Le

Child abuse is complicated

According to Vinh City’s report, in recent years, the situation of child abuse in the city has tended to increase and decrease abnormally every year, and the situation has become increasingly complicated. From 2015 to June 2019, in Vinh City there were 14 cases of child abuse (of which 10 were sexual abuse and 4 were violence).

Child abuse in Vinh City takes the form of: child sexual abuse (rape, indecent assault, sexual intercourse) and child abuse, of which the majority is sexual abuse.

In recent child abuse cases in Vinh City, the perpetrators and victims were neighbors or knew each other before, in one particular case the perpetrator was the victim's father.

Abusive behavior leaves very serious psychological consequences for children, affecting their mental and physical development, especially in cases where the victim is abused and becomes pregnant.

Comrade Le Thi Nga speaks at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Le

Explaining the cause, Vinh City leaders said that child abuse mainly comes from the family in managing, caring for, nurturing and educating the children. Most child abuse cases occur when the parents of the victims neglect, abandon their children, lack of attention, lax management, do not regularly educate children about ethics, lifestyle, skills, lack knowledge and methods of sex education and guide children on how to prevent.

On the other hand, child abusers often have close relationships with the victim's family. This affects the child's psychology in many ways. Most cases are discovered many days after the child is abused.

In addition, the issue of communication and sex education to help children know how to protect themselves in some schools is not taken seriously. The management of obscene services and cultural products is not strict enough...

"The difficulty in child sexual abuse cases is that the victims and their families are often apprehensive and afraid of their reputation being affected. They often do not report to the authorities but keep it a secret," said Vice Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee Dau Vinh Thinh.

Forecast the situation

At the meeting, members of the monitoring delegation requested Vinh City to study and evaluate difficulties in implementing laws and guiding documents related to children's rights; teaching life skills programs in schools; and training skills for health sector staff...

Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee Tran Ngoc Tu spoke to clarify issues of concern to the monitoring delegation. Photo: Thanh Le

The monitoring delegation also requested Vinh City to clarify the coordination between levels and sectors in child care and protection; create a safe environment for children; evaluate the effectiveness of propaganda work; difficulties in judicial appraisal of child abuse; support for intervention of children at risk of abuse and children who have been abused; inspection and examination work; difficulties and obstacles in handling child sexual abuse cases, etc.

Representatives of Vinh City Police reported child abuse cases in the area. Photo: Thanh Le

Concluding the meeting, comrade Le Thi Nga highly appreciated Vinh City's implementation of policies and laws on preventing and combating child abuse.

The Chairman of the National Assembly's Judiciary Committee noted that Vinh City needs to further promote information and propaganda of laws on child protection and care; strengthen inspection and examination, focusing on thematic inspection; and pay attention to training skills for officials and civil servants working in child protection and care.

Besides, Vinh City needs to forecast the situation and crimes of child abuse to have effective solutions to prevent and combat child abuse; strengthen the leadership role of the Party Committee as well as the coordination of agencies and sectors in the work of preventing and combating child abuse,...