Letters | Hong Kong child abuse law: everyone has a duty to keep the kids safe
- Making it mandatory to report child abuse would be good but, meanwhile, we can all help vulnerable families and report any child abuse concerns at any time
Child protection is not just the responsibility of policymakers. Everyone and every sector of society has a role to play, and everyone can make a difference.
While establishing mandatory reporting of child abuse in Hong Kong legislation would be an important step forward in protecting children at a systemic level, anyone can voluntarily report any concern about child abuse at any time.
At Mother’s Choice, a local charity serving the many children without families as well as pregnant teenagers in Hong Kong, we believe that keeping children safe is everyone’s responsibility. Each employee, volunteer and foster parent completes child protection training upon joining, which teaches them how to identify, respond to and report child abuse if there is a concern.
As our city emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic, children who have been isolated, abused and neglected will rejoin society, and the adults around them must respond to any concerns they have.
But while we can all report child abuse, we often feel hopeless, not knowing what to do when our heart, body or mind is telling us that a child we know may not be safe. Despite this, there are small actions we can all take.