Record 37,000 children suspected of being abused in Japan in first half of 2018
Some Japanese blame the rising figure on the pressures of modern life, along with the collapse of the traditional family unit
A record 37,113 cases of suspected child abuse were reported across Japan in the first half of 2018, including 19 cases that ended in the death of a child, according to statistics released by the National Police Agency.
The first-half figure showed an increase for the seventh consecutive year and was up more than 22 per cent compared to the same period in 2017. It suggests the full-year figure will surpass the record 65,431 cases reported to authorities last year.
A total of 2,127 children were taken into protective custody from situations authorities judged to be life-threatening – up 340 cases from last year and above the 2,000 threshold for the first time.
More than 71 per cent of the cases involved psychological abuse of children, while more than 60 per cent had witnessed parents or guardians being physically abusive towards one another. Some 6,792 children were physically abused, up by 1,069 cases on the previous six-month period, with sexual abuse cases up by 14 to 111.
Many of the children were victims of more than one form of abuse, police said.
