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With the controversy spreading over the case of an adopted girl who died due to abuse by her adoptive parents, the ruling and opposition parties issued bills to prevent child abuse. On the 8th, the National Assembly processed the modification of the Law of Punishment for Child Abuse, incorporating 18 related bills initiated by the opposition parties.
The revised Child Abuse Penalties Act bill contained content that required an investigation and investigation to be initiated immediately after the complaint. Additionally, actors and victims of child abuse were investigated separately, and the level of punishment was raised if they interfered with the work of police officers and child abuse officers. Although the National Assembly has accelerated the bill’s process, there has been criticism for pushing through the legislation without sufficient review. Experts worry that it could make victims more dangerous.
In particular, the amendment to the Child Welfare Act passed in December last year says that children who receive complaints of alleged abuse more than twice a year must be immediately separated from their parents.
There are only 57 children’s shelters in the entire country, and they are already overcrowded. There are around 1,000 children the shelter can accommodate and 2,776 children were abused two or more times in 2019. Even if they are immediately isolated from their parents, they have nowhere to stay. Specialized foster homes are in operation to protect abused children, but since there is no government support, only 60 children are cared for here. There is also a severe shortage of staff dedicated to child abuse. There are only 290 public officials in charge of child abuse nationwide and 6,362 children are cared for by an Abuse Prevention Police Officer (APO).
Faced with this situation, only 14% of the 24,000 cases of abuse from January to November of last year were separated from the perpetrator. This is not because there is no system to separate victims from children, but rather because of a lack of protective facilities and a lack of experience on the ground. The National Assembly is scheduled to further discuss strengthening the punishment for perpetrators at an extraordinary National Assembly in February, but instead of rushing to legislate due to public opinion, the order is to investigate the situation. A fundamental solution needs to be found by listening to the voices of experts in the field and expanding facilities and dedicated staff.
[ⓒ 매일경제 & mk.co.kr, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]
