The case of a 10-year-old child being abused by his biological father: The ward chairman must take responsibility!

According to the Law on Children, the primary responsibility lies with the local ward leaders where the child abuse or molestation incident occurred.

On December 12, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) and the Vietnam Association of Vocational Education and Social Work organized a workshop on "Solutions to bring children's law into life".

Overview of the workshop.

Speaking at the workshop, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang, President of the Vietnam Association of Vocational Education and Social Work, said that there are currently 15 agencies and organizations tasked with protecting children, but in reality, when an incident occurs, no agency or unit takes responsibility or handles it. This is a major problem in the face of the increasing situation of child abuse.

Mr. Dang Hoa Nam, Director of the Department of Children, said that the specific responsibilities for each unit have been clearly stated in the Law on Children, effective from June 1, 2017, and Decree 56 guiding a number of articles of the Law on Children. However, because the Law has just been applied, all levels and sectors still do not have a specific understanding of the Law.

For example, in the case of a 10-year-old boy who was abused by his biological father and stepmother for 2 years in Cau Giay (Hanoi), Mr. Nam affirmed that according to the Law on Children, the first responsibility must belong to the leaders of the local ward where the incident occurred. When an incident occurs, through the political network system, the residential group must grasp the incident to handle it. When it is discovered, the leaders of the wards and the functional agencies of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs must make a plan to support abused children.

The abused 10-year-old boy is living with his mother and grandparents. Photo: Internet

Mr. Nam said that the way the case was handled in Hanoi recently was not in accordance with the spirit of the Law on Children and Decree 56, and was still charitable and humanitarian.

The leader of the Department of Children also affirmed that the school is responsible for this incident. “A student took 2 years off school without withdrawing his records, and the school and the homeroom teacher did not have any suspicions to verify the information. If he had transferred to an international school as his father claimed, he would have had to withdraw his records from the school. This is a lack of responsibility on the part of the homeroom teacher. In developed countries, if a student takes 2 months off school, the authorities will come to investigate,” said Mr. Nam.

Mr. Ha Dinh Bon, Director of the Legal Department (Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs) said that in order to strictly handle child abuse cases, it is necessary to clearly define the responsibilities of collectives, individuals, agencies and organizations in protecting and caring for children; promulgate policies to support children in special circumstances, promulgate inter-sectoral coordination mechanisms to protect children; review relevant legal documents; propose, supplement appropriately, promulgate mechanisms, policies, social work with children... In addition, the Law also needs to amend and supplement sanctions for administrative violations against acts of child abuse... develop and promulgate according to authority or submit to the Government and the Prime Minister documents detailing the Law./.

According to VOV