If social welfare experts are correct, and the rise in cases of child abuse springs from more awareness of the problem, it says a great deal about the silent suffering inflicted on children in the past. In a more open and better-informed society, people are less inclined to take the view that anything outside their immediate family circle is none of their concern. In modern Hong Kong, outsiders are more prepared to intervene when they become aware of child cruelty or parental neglect.
There have been several occasions in which neighbours have called the police or social workers to children left alone at home, or when they suspect a child is being beaten.
Schools, kindergartens and child care centres are also alert to the problem and are diligent in reporting their suspicions. But sexual abuse is a more insidious syndrome, often confined within the family and known only to the victim and the abuser. Cases are coming to light in greater numbers because there is a greater willingness on the part of children to report what is happening. Part of the trend springs from the Social Welfare Department's successful advertising campaign three years ago to raise awareness of child sexual abuse. Since then, there has been a much more sensitive approach from the police and courts, and a greater willingness to believe children when they speak out. And this certainly helps the victim through the ordeal of recounting their experience.
All these advances are to be welcomed, but it is still of great concern that child abuse remains widespread. This is a city with particular social conditions: children with two parents on opposite sides of the border, the breakdown of the extended family, domestic violence and crowded housing conditions. These are just some of the triggers for child abuse, and these are conditions which will prevail for some years yet.
Children are often too young, or too frightened to talk about their problems. Extra vigilance from all those who come in contact with them is their only real defence.
