The suspected cases of child abuse among the staff of the "Tong Le Ju" of the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children's residential institutions for young children are becoming more and more common. At least 20 young children have been affected and a total of 6 staff have been arrested.
Lei Zhang Shenjia, a member of the Children’s Affairs Committee and the former director-general of the Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse, today (30th) in Hong Kong and Taiwan’s "Millenniums" stated that the incident must be handled strictly and thoroughly investigated. She also mentioned that institutions need to establish a culture of supervision, including Establishing an internal protection policy for young children, and regularly reviewing closed-circuit television to monitor frontline operations is also the key: "A lot of CCTV, is it just recording all the way without reviewing it?"
▼12.28 The Director General of the Society for the Protection of Children held a press conference▼
Lei Zhang Shenjia pointed out that the incident involved many young children who were also subjected to inhumane and cruel treatment. He emphasized that we must look into the ground and deal with it rigorously, including a comprehensive understanding and thorough investigation of the incident, so that effective prevention can be achieved in the future: , Social justice."
We must find the bottom line before we can effectively prevent it in the future. Firstly, it is fair to the affected children and the society... There are many CCTVs. Is it just recording all the way without reviewing it?
Lei Zhang Shenjia, member of the Child Affairs Committee and former director-general of the Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse
Institutions face up to the supervision culture and establish an internal child protection policy.
She also pointed out that the institution’s supervision culture must also be taken seriously, including the establishment of an internal child protection policy, covering non-violence clauses. In addition, the closed-circuit television in the institution is regularly reviewed, which is also an institution. The key to monitoring front-line operations is, "There are many CCTVs. Is it just recording all the way without reviewing it?"
She also believes that it is necessary to examine whether the monitoring mechanism is sufficient to enable the incident to be discovered before it reaches a serious stage. Government personnel need to examine the inspection methods and may consider using the power under the law to conduct surprise inspections.
There are only two homes in Hong Kong to accommodate young children who need to stay overnight. Lei Zhang Shenjia urges the government to allocate more resources
Regarding the whereabouts of children from "Tong Le Ju", she believes that an inter-departmental and inter-professional team must follow up to determine whether the children will be moved to another institution. She also pointed out that there are currently only two homes in Hong Kong. To accommodate young children aged 0-3 who need to stay overnight due to family reasons, it is hoped that the Hong Kong Government will allocate more resources, including the construction of additional homes or manpower, to relieve the pressure on front-line staff.
The Social Welfare Department will not send staff to join the task force of the Society for the Protection of Children, but will closely supervise the organization to conduct a comprehensive investigation and submit a review report as soon as possible.
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