Many child abusers are close acquaintances of the victims.

Complicated developments

The nature and extent of child abuse cases are increasingly dangerous and reckless. Typically, on March 22, 2021, a subject named D.D.T, born in 1982, residing in Hamlet 4, Xuan Lam Commune, Nam Dan District, sneaked into a primary school near the commune to commit rape. After committing the act, out of fear, the subject got on a motorbike and drove to a boarding house in Vinh City to pack his belongings and prepare to escape, but before he could leave, he was arrested by Hung Nguyen District Police.

In another incident, on July 19, Quy Chau District Police received a report from the family of VHY (born in 2008) residing in Chau Binh Commune, Quy Chau District, that at about 1:00 a.m. the same day, Y. was sleeping alone at home and was raped by a stranger. Immediately after receiving the report, Quy Chau District Police deployed forces and used synchronous professional measures. By 5:00 p.m. the same day, they had quickly investigated, arrested and detained Lang Van Ha (born in 1997) residing in Chau Binh Commune for the act of molesting a person under 16 years old to be handled according to the provisions of the law.

Ta Quang Thieu (born 1999), residing in Khanh Son commune, Nam Dan district, was arrested for the act of "Having sexual intercourse with a person from 13 to under 16 years old". Photo: Hong Ngoc

In September 2021, based on a citizen's complaint, Hung Nguyen District Police arrested two subjects, Nguyen Quang Vinh (born in 1998); Tuong Nguyen Long (born in 2000), both residing in Hung Nguyen District, for the crime of "Extortion of property" and Ta Quang Thieu (born in 1999), residing in Khanh Son Commune, Nam Dan District, for the crime of "Sexual intercourse with a person from 13 to under 16 years old". According to the complaint of the victim under 16 years old, recently, Tuong Nguyen Long and Nguyen Quang Vinh have frequently called, texted, threatened, and beaten her in order to demand the return of 5 million VND that they had lent her. The two subjects forced the victim to pay both principal and interest of 9 million VND. In addition, the victim also accused Ta Quang Thieu of having sexual intercourse with her many times.

In many cases, the perpetrators of child abuse are acquaintances with the victims' relatives or the abused children themselves. The methods of committing the crimes in these cases are also very diverse, but mainly the perpetrators take advantage of their relationships with the victims' children or relatives to find ways to approach the children. Once they have approached, the perpetrators use all means to take advantage of their trust or influence to entice the children (give them money, let them use the phone, invite them to go out, give them food...) or threaten them to commit the abuse.

Defendant Nguyen Phi Hung received 18 months in prison for “Raping a person under 16 years old”. Photo courtesy of Nhu Binh

Typically, in June 2020, in Yen Thanh district, a child abuse case occurred that shocked public opinion in a rural area. The perpetrator was Mr. Nguyen Phi Hung (born in 1950, residing in Van Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district). In his confession, Mr. Hung admitted that on the afternoon of June 9, when he went to his neighbor's house to play, he saw a 9-year-old girl studying alone and had the intention of sexually abusing her. After that, Hung told the victim not to tell anyone and then left. However, in the evening, afraid that what he had done would be exposed, Mr. Hung wrote a confession. Mr. Hung also admitted that he had sexually abused the girl 3 times. Meanwhile, the victim reported that Mr. Hung had seduced her 8 times. In addition to the above incident, Mr. Hung also admitted that he had sexually abused another 8-year-old girl living in the same neighborhood.

From 2016 to 2020, the functional sector in the province discovered and investigated 136 cases of child abuse, 140 children were abused with acts of sexual abuse and child trafficking. In 2021 alone, 32/32 cases of abuse of women and children were investigated and clarified.

The problem of child sexual abuse not only seriously affects the security and order situation in the area but also violates the health, honor and dignity of children. Some victims in sexual abuse cases are too young, some are children with congenital disabilities. The consequences not only affect health but also cause severe psychological effects on the victims, leaving many negative consequences for children and their families and society.

Girls are vulnerable to exploitation and sexual abuse. Illustrative photo.

The causes of the above crime situation, in addition to the low awareness of law compliance, personality and morality of criminals, also show that the propaganda, legal education, and sex education of agencies, functional organizations, schools and the management and care of children by families are sometimes and in some places ineffective.

Some families lack knowledge and skills in child protection, and their understanding of the law and the prevention of violence and child abuse is limited. Furthermore, the coordination between families, schools, organizations, and local authorities in managing and caring for children in some places is not close and effective.

Proactive prevention solutions

Implementing Directive No. 18/CT-TTg of the Prime Minister on strengthening solutions to prevent and combat violence and child abuse; Resolution No. 121/2020/QH14 of the National Assembly on continuing to strengthen the effectiveness of implementing policies and laws on preventing and combating child abuse, the People's Committee of Nghe An province has issued documents directing departments, unions, and localities to effectively implement child protection work based on their functions and tasks.

Special talk on skills to prevent child abuse and kidnapping. Photo courtesy of Hong Son

In particular, it focuses on promoting diverse propaganda, dissemination and education measures in many different forms, contributing to raising awareness and responsibility of families, schools, agencies, organizations and the whole society; at the same time helping children improve their understanding, knowledge and skills to protect themselves. The Provincial People's Committee also requires agencies, departments, branches and localities to coordinate to promptly grasp and promptly handle cases related to child abuse, especially serious crimes, young victims, cases of public concern; promote inspection, examination and supervision of the implementation of children's rights. Thereby promptly recommending and supplementing errors, promptly resolving difficulties and inadequacies.

Schools proactively coordinate with functional sectors and local organizations to promote propaganda and education on gender knowledge, age of criminal responsibility; methods and tricks of child sexual abuse criminals, dangers and conditions, capabilities, and circumstances that easily lead to child abuse, thereby practicing coping skills, self-prevention, and resistance to abuse. Especially now, in the face of the complicated developments of the Covid-19 epidemic, most work, study, entertainment activities... have moved from offline to online, posing risks to users in the online environment, especially children.

Propaganda and training on child abuse prevention at Dien Yen I Primary School, Dien Chau district with the theme "Action for children". Photo courtesy of CT

Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen coordination between schools and families, and closely manage students. In addition, as Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Dinh Long said at the conference summarizing 10 years of implementing children's work in the period 2011 - 2020; directions and tasks for the period 2021 - 2030: "Those who carry out child care and protection work need to raise awareness and prevention skills, not just participate in detecting and denouncing."

To improve the quality of child care, education and protection in the coming years, Nghe An province proposes that ministries, branches and the central government study and invest appropriate resources for functional forces in the work of preventing and combating crimes and violations of child abuse, especially funding for fighting cases, organizing rescue and supporting victims of abuse.

At the same time, research policies to provide material and spiritual support to families of abused children from poor and near-poor households; research and provide a set of statistical indicators on child abuse crimes to serve the fight against them; forecast the situation, thereby having solutions to prevent and protect children from abuse, especially for high-risk groups./.