Letters | To end child abuse, Hong Kong must ban corporal punishment

After a spike in reports of child abuse in 2021, government plans to enhance mechanisms for identifying and reporting cases are welcome, but only the first step

Law

Letters

Published: 7:30am, 10 Jan 2022

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As many geared up for the festive holidays on Christmas Eve, news of another heartbreaking case of alleged child abuse and neglect emerged, this time in a residential children’s home where vulnerable children are supposed to be nurtured and protected.

Last year, a number of child abuse cases sparked outrage. A couple was jailed for beating a 22-month-old toddler, who died malnourished and covered with more than 70 bruises and scars. Earlier, a couple was sentenced to life imprisonment for abusing and murdering their five-year-old daughter

According to Social Welfare Department statistics, the number of child abuse cases has skyrocketed in the past two years. Reported cases of child abuse were up 57 per cent, from 650 in the first nine months of 2020 to 1,023 in the same period last year.

I welcome the chief executive’s announcement in her policy address that the government is formulating a legislative proposal to set up a mandatory reporting mechanism for child abuse cases and to enhance training for practitioners in relevant professions to identify child abuse cases.

This is a crucial step to help identify and report suspected abuse and enable immediate intervention, but should only be the start. By the time a child abuse case is reported, the harm to the child has already been done. We must also focus on prevention.

At Save the Children, we are committed to making sure that children are safe, both within and outside their homes. Aside from having a child safeguarding policy of our own, we provide training and guidance to organisations that engage with children, developing their knowledge, skills and protocols so they can better ensure that their organisations are child safe.

Organisations need to establish a reporting and response system, including  internal child safeguarding focal points, to provide appropriate handling and support in case of a child safety concern. There is also a need to build staff’s capacity to identify and respond to suspected child abuse cases to foster a child safeguarding culture of awareness, accountability and cooperation across the organisation. 

Banning corporal punishment and promoting positive parenting is also critical to preventing child abuse. Unfortunately in Hong Kong, physical and humiliating punishment is still a common form of discipline.

We need to build a culture of zero tolerance to violence against children across society. I urge the government to also develop and implement a law to prohibit all corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading punishment of children in all settings and introduce a new offence of “failure to protect” according to the Law Reform Commission’s recommendations.

Last year, Colombia became the 63rd country worldwide to ban corporal punishment against children in all settings, including the home. Why can’t Hong Kong be the next?

Carol Szeto, CEO, Save the Children Hong Kong