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Letters | Hong Kong is failing its children with lack of mandatory abuse reporting laws
- Ill-treatment and sexual abuse of children are criminal offences in Hong Kong, but the city lacks dedicated legislation on child abuse seen in other countries
- It should not take another premature and brutal death of a child before any new legislation or system is put in place to prevent child abuse
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It was horrifying to read about the case of a five-year-old girl who died from abuse inflicted by her biological father and stepmother. The abuse started in 2017, and the girl died in January 2018. The couple was charged with murder and sentenced to life in prison for killing the little girl.
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It is disgraceful that the neighbours living next to the family did not make even one attempt to call the police when the children were often beaten or thrown around.
Hong Kong is a world-class city but lags behind in protecting our children. Ill-treatment and sexual abuse of children are criminal offences in Hong Kong, but the city lacks any dedicated legislation on child abuse as seen in other places. Neither is there a defined process to report abuse, investigate and follow up, or a system to ensure these abused children have access to proper care to help them through the trauma of their experience.
Many countries, such as Japan, the United States, Australia, Denmark and Norway, have implemented mandated reporting of child abuse. Why isn’t reporting of child abuse mandatory at least for schools, social workers, doctors and nurses in Hong Kong? Reporting suspected abuse is the first step to preventing abuse.
Your report (“Did Hong Kong’s schools and system fail girl, 5, murdered by parents in horrific child abuse case?”, April 15) states that in 2019, the Ombudsman recommended that the government explore the feasibility of making it mandatory for professionals who have direct contact with children – such as teachers, social workers, doctors and nurses – to report suspected abuse. The Law Reform Commission conducted a three-month consultation on the proposal, including the possibility of adding a new offence of “failure to protect a child or vulnerable person where the child’s or vulnerable person’s death or serious harm results from an unlawful act or neglect” but did not make a formal recommendation. A draft bill on feasibility of setting up the system, which was to be debated in the Legislative Council in December 2019, was blocked.
When will the government act to protect our children? I hope it will not take another premature and brutal death of a child before any new legislation or system is put in place to prevent child abuse.
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