[Child abuse. Next] Vulnerable and difficult to rescue third-party roles is important to learn from the Australian model

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Written by: Wu Dongwei

2020-01-07 15:00

Two years ago today (January 6, 2018), the 5-year-old girl Chen Ruilin (Linlin) was suspected to have been killed by the abuse of her biological father and stepmother. The incident shocked Hong Kong, prompting the SAR government to set up a civilian affairs committee that had been fighting for 20 years. And promote "one school, one social worker" in public primary schools. Two years later, child abuse cases are still frequent, but public attention has diminished, and subsequent child protection policies have not disappeared. This can't help but be confusing, what exactly is the problem? Why do people abuse children? What structural issues are involved in child protection failure? How should we repair the thousands of holes in the security net?

To undertake the above: [Child abuse. Top] Officials and citizens still lag behind, more comprehensive policies to prevent child abuse

As Hong Kong is an international city, the problem of child abuse continues to worsen, and the government needs to seriously reflect on the reasons behind it. (Photo / Photo by Zhang Haowei)

Myth 3: Reporting abuse is like destroying a family.

The third layer of abuse prevention recommended by the social welfare community is "identifying cases of child abuse and preventing recurrence in the family." The Office of the Ombudsman released the report "Mechanism for Identifying and Reporting Suspected Child Abuse Cases" in October last year. Teachers, social workers, and other professionals who have close contact with children play an important role in exposing child abuse issues. However, the current legislation does not require them to come forward to report cases after learning about the incident. Therefore, it is recommended that the government explore the mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse cases. Feasibility. Statistics from the head of the article show that many abusers are the parents or closer family members of the abused children. When they are victims, they may not know how to ask for help. Therefore, the third-party reporting mechanism is particularly important.

As many people support the compulsory report, this mechanism can increase the sensitivity of professionals, neighbors or friends and relatives to suspected child abuse cases, so that more child abuse cases can be identified early so that the authorities can intervene as soon as possible. However, under the values ​​of "ning to teach people to fight, not to teach their wives", this society seems to allow corporal punishment for children, and "advise" others not to get involved in other people's family affairs, so as not to damage the reporters and the abusers. Friendly or abused family relationships.

Zhang Chaoxiong said that citizens who report cases of child abuse in good faith should be exempted from criminal liability. (Photo / Photo by Zhang Haowei)

Zhang Chaoxiong, a member of the Labor Party ’s Legislative Council and chairman of the Child Rights Subcommittee, revealed that according to his experience in dealing with child abuse crises, many social workers are more conservative. Even if they see obvious signs of child abuse, they will worry that the intervention will damage the victim ’s family. There were concerns about the relationship; in addition, many abused parents were immediately "negative" by the social worker when they reported that they refused to allow the social worker to continue to follow up the case, making the social worker hesitant. Zhang Chaoxiong added that professional co-workers, whether working in the Social Welfare Department, public schools or social welfare agencies, face the same difficulties. For example, school social workers are not very aggressive in handling cases. In fact, some principals are afraid of losing parents.

The question is, isn't it because we worry about this and are afraid of that in the present society that the abusers continue to rag? Huang Cuiling once quoted the statistical analysis of child abuse in 2017. About 80% of the cases came from family members and neighbors' reports before they were revealed. This shows the importance of the reporting mechanism. Some commenters worry that the general public may not fall into the French Open because of misreporting. Huang Cuiling and Zhang Chaoxiong suggested that the authorities should learn from the United States. As long as the relevant parties report in good faith, regardless of whether the report is ultimately accepted, all civil affairs will be exempted. Or criminal responsibility; at the same time, the introduction of anonymity or related departments to take covert investigations, evidence collection and other methods can effectively prevent false positives and alleviate public concerns.

Lei Zhang Shenjia pointed out that every role in society has become an important stakeholder in preventing child abuse. (Profile picture / photo by Zhang Yonglong)

As for specific work, Lei Zhang Shenjia said that the SAR government should change its mindset and stop emphasizing that child abuse is only a family issue, and take the lead to prevent it. Like Australia, Switzerland, and Canada, issue clear child policy documents, and openly propose that protecting the welfare of children is social Shared responsibility, so that every role in society becomes an important stakeholder in preventing child abuse. She acknowledged that the compulsory reporting mechanism may or may not be perfect, but as long as a good child-care attitude is established, different measures can actively "reserve seats" and fill in different small gaps, eventually achieving "building a good-neighborly community together, and understanding that the family is the inner part of the community" Units to promote interpersonal support. "

Can learn from Australian intervention model

The Chief Secretary of the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of the Child, Tsai Su-sin, wrote in an earlier article that there are two serious deficiencies in Hong Kong's current child affairs. They are the lack of a comprehensive child policy and a co-ordinating agency. Long-term and clear goals, without staged indicators and action plans.

What is a sound child policy? The Australian model may be of reference value. The local government launched the "Protecting Children is Everyone's Business" document in 2009 as a national childcare policy framework, clearly stating that the responsibility for child abuse is no longer limited to the abuser, but extends to the public government and various stakeholder units. The framework publishes an action plan every three years, setting out different focus items and goals for child protection, and encouraging the public to work together.

If the public breaks the taboos of destroying families and proactively reports cases of suspected child abuse, it may be possible to avoid the coming tragedy. (Profile picture / Photo by Tong Jiasheng)

In regional work, the Australian Government has established the Department of Family and Community Services as a specialized agency to strengthen the community's auxiliary functions and provide diverse support to families, including quality child care services and courses to improve parenting skills. Although there are also many institutions in Hong Kong that provide close parent-child education, most of the projects are non-government-funded projects, which are not only unsustainable. Many projects also have low coverage and child abuse due to funding issues and insufficient publicity. The effectiveness of prevention has also been weakened.

The Australian model has been praised by the industry due to its forward-looking positioning. It emphasizes the importance of universal prevention, trying to identify the needs of families and children early to provide support services to prevent them from becoming "high-risk" families due to lack of support. The Australian government is trying to extend child protection services to one aspect of the overall welfare of clients and their families. Instead of focusing on protecting children as a purely abusive response, it has risen to promote child safety and child welfare, more in line with the World Health Organization's The ideal indicator is the direction that the SAR Government deserves to learn.

related articles:

[Linlin killing case] Stepmother mother and two defendants accused of child abuse including Linlin 8-year-old brother

[Helping Hong Kong Children Speak 3] Children of the Children's Commission have no say? Group struggles for leap year feeling disappointed

[Policy Forum] The compulsory reporting of child abuse protection mechanism requires overall cooperation

[International Children's Day] Cases of child abuse rise instead of falling, innocent children become victims of pathological society

The above excerpt is from the 196th issue of the "Hong Kong 01" weekly report (January 6, 2020), "Officials and people are backward, weak and difficult to help themselves, call for a comprehensive policy to eliminate child abuse factors".

More weekly articles: [01 weekly report page]

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01Weekly report on child abuse and child development policy planning