Painful situation of child sexual abuse

(Baonghean) - Child sexual abuse is on the rise and becoming more and more complicated, causing public outrage. The lack of attention and management from families and society, and the immaturity and lack of understanding of children's sexuality are the causes of these heartbreaking incidents.

Children are being abused

Public opinion is still shocked and outraged by the recent child molestation case in Vinh city. From April 19, 2014 to around October 2015, Uong Nhat Duoc took advantage of the time when UTL’s mother (15 years old) was away from home to have “sex” with L many times.

For nearly a year, Duoc continuously went to L.'s house when her mother was away to commit depraved acts. On December 5, 2015, Ms. VTT (L.'s mother) discovered that her daughter had many unusual symptoms, so she took her to the doctor. The result was that L. was 26 weeks pregnant. On March 3, 2016, L. gave birth to a baby boy. DNA testing results showed that the baby boy was Duoc's child.

Subject Uong Nhat Duoc at the trial.

It is worth mentioning that Uong Nhat Duoc did not feel ashamed of his actions, even at the age of nearly 70. On September 12, 2016, defendant Uong Nhat Duoc, 68 years old (Hung Loc commune, Vinh city) was brought to trial by the People's Court of Nghe An province for the crime of "Raping children and having sexual intercourse with children". At the trial, the defendant was still smiling, even arrogantly saying "I am proud to have another child"...

Previously, in August 2015, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a trial for defendant Bui Dang Thanh (born in 1988), residing in Dong Van commune, Tan Ky district, for child rape. According to the indictment, at around 12:00 on February 27, 2015, on the way back from buying a phone card, when he arrived at the gate of Mr. Ha Van H.'s house (living in the same hamlet), Thanh saw that the main house was not closed so he went in. At this time, Thanh saw HTPT (born in 2003, daughter of Mr. H.) lying on the bed alone so he had the intention of raping her. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was home, Thanh seduced T. and then committed a depraved act. As of the day the heartbreaking incident occurred, T. was only 11 years, 5 months and 23 days old.

According to reports from authorities, child sexual abuse is currently very serious and on the rise. Previously, this situation occurred mainly in remote areas, sparsely populated areas, and low-educated areas; but now more and more child sexual abuse cases are being discovered in urban areas and large cities.

Child sexual abuse is truly alarming (Illustration photo)

The reason for this situation is primarily because the children themselves lack knowledge and skills about reproductive health; they do not know how to prevent sexual abuse, so they are often curious and imitative, leading to being deceived and sexually abused. Meanwhile, parents, schools, local authorities and other agencies have not properly recognized the importance of sex education for children, so they have not equipped them with basic knowledge to protect themselves.

Some families have not fulfilled their responsibilities, are lax in managing, protecting, caring for, and educating their children; lack understanding of children's psychological characteristics, and lack of concern, guidance, and sharing of gender issues with children. Gender education for children in schools only stops at introducing the human body and personal hygiene, without focusing on educating children with deeper knowledge about gender, psychology according to each age group, and self-protection skills.

Stop from risk

Reviewing child sexual abuse cases, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Xuan - Head of the Department of Inspection and Enforcement of Criminal Judgments (Provincial People's Court) said that the perpetrators mostly have acquaintances with the victim's family. They are neighbors, friends of the parents, siblings, and even relatives. On the other hand, in some cases, after being abused, due to fear of gossip, the victim's family does not report the incident to the authorities. Therefore, many cases of child abuse are discovered after a long time, leaving serious consequences.

Sex education for students should be strengthened.

From the alarming situation of child sexual abuse, the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of the province has directed the development of a model of "Prevention and support for children who are sexually abused and abused based on the community" in Nghi Loc and Nam Dan districts. The activities of these models are to regularly propagate on the district radio and television stations; organize seminars on prevention and support for children who are sexually abused and abused, skills in counseling, consulting, skills in working with children and families; training on prevention, consequences and methods of handling children who are sexually abused and abused, and support them in the process of psychological treatment and health recovery.

Ms. Le Thi Nguyet - Head of the Department of Child Protection, Care and Gender Equality, Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of the province said that in order to promptly implement intervention activities and support for abused children, after receiving reports and reports on child sexual abuse cases in the province, the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs promptly issued an official dispatch directing districts, cities and towns where child sexual abuse cases occurred to implement intervention measures and support for abused children, and at the same time established inspection teams to directly inspect at district and commune facilities to verify the situation and evaluate the results of handling the case. Therefore, all detected cases of child sexual abuse are supported with funding for health care according to regulations, all cases related to child sexual abuse are promptly handled according to the provisions of law.

However, according to Ms. Nguyet, to completely prevent this situation, it requires the participation of the whole family, school and authorities. In terms of family, parents must regularly pay attention to and closely monitor the psychology of their children, educate their children thoroughly about reproductive health, and listen to their children's sharing in order to intervene promptly.

On the part of schools and management agencies, it is necessary to develop documents, books, newspapers, and photos on sex education and anti-sexual abuse as well as have appropriate extracurricular programs to educate children on how to protect themselves. In addition, judicial agencies need to coordinate with local Party committees and authorities to bring child rape cases to mobile trials and pilot trials in localities for propaganda, education, and deterrence.

Phuong Thao