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SCMP Reporter

The government has promised to keep allocating more resources to preventing child abuse, especially in such problem districts as Tuen Mun and Tin Shui Wai.
Cheung Kin-chung, secretary for Labour and Welfare, told the Legislative Council yesterday that the government is actively preventing child abuse. It is also following up on cases to ensure the abused recover as soon as possible.
Cheung said figures from the Social Welfare Department show there were 745 child abuse cases between January and September last year. He said a survey by the University of Hong Kong shows the main reasons behind child abuse are poor relationships between parents and their children, and financial difficulties experienced by families. 
Many abusive parents also have low education levels, he added.
Cheung assured the public that the government has measures in place to help tackle the problem. Abused children can seek help from the 61Integrated Family Service Centres and 173 Integrated Children and Youth Services Centre citywide. 
'On June 2010, we started the Victim Support Programme for Victims of Family Violence, in which the victims are well supported while it [their abuse case] is going through judiciary process,' Cheung said.
The government has focused its efforts in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long, where the child abuse figures have raised concerns. More psychologists are now working in the two districts to help victims of abuse.
On January 5, a 30-year-old mother was sentenced to one year's probation service. The mother had forced her six-year-old son to stand naked in the passage outside their flat so as to discipline him.
On January 3, a mother locked her daughter inside their home to prevent her from falling in with a bad crowd. The girl, aged 14, tried to leave by climbing out of the window, but got stuck on the ledge.
Earlier this month, concern group Against Child Abuse set up the first website (www.acachild.asia) in Hong Kong specifically designed to spread the message of preventing child abuse. The website teaches children and their parents about the issue through interactive games, animations and a discussion  forum.



Child abuse victims gain more support