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Huynh Thanh Giang receives a sentence of 23 years in prison for abusing a 14-year-old boy. Child abuse is thought to be more common in Viet Nam than official figures indicate. — VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hai |
HA NOI — The number of cases of child abuse has increased this year and the more worrying problem is that the number in reality is much higher because many families do not report cases of abuse to the police, said Dam Huu Dac, standing deputy minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.
A total of 704 children were abused in the first six months of this year, an increase of three times compared with the same period three years ago, Dac said.
As many as 13.5 per cent of abused children were under six years old, and 37.2 per cent of them between six and 13 years old.
Po Me Nu, a 14-year-old ethnic minority student from the northern province of Dien Bien, said many girls in her neighbourhood were forced to marry at the age of just 13 or 14.
"Moreover, they are often beaten by their husbands, and threatened not to tell anyone," she said.
Children in Nu's village have to work hard in the fields and many have to wear tattered clothes to school and study on empty stomachs because their families are too poor.
"I hope that parents in my village allow us time to study and do not force us to get married and work too hard," Nu said.
Tran Ha Dung, another young girl from the southern province of Ca Mau said many children in her area did not attend school because they were busy selling lottery tickets on the streets.
"They are also employed by restaurant owners and often beaten if they do not do their jobs well," she said.
Speaking about the reasons for the problem, director of the Department of Child Care and Protection Nguyen Hai Huu said the laws on child protection were being continuously revised and improved to meet today's demands and conform with the International Convention on the Rights of the Child which Viet Nam signed in 1990. However, specific punishment for child abuse was not strict enough.
"We do not have the manpower to check all private manufacturing enterprises, restaurants and internet and karaoke shops where children are often employed," Huu said.
Education levels, especially in rural and remote areas, are low so they do not understand that by beating children, they are violating the law. And many children do not go to school because of their poor families thus they themselves do not know about their rights, he added.
To improve the situation, Dac said the ministry was working on four projects directed at 107 communes nationwide where abuse is common. "In the middle of this October, we will submit the revised Law on Human Trafficking to the National Assembly Standing Committee for approval," Dac said.
Huu added that the department published leaflets on child abuse prevention in minority languages which had been distributed in mountainous and remote areas.
"Loudspeakers are installed in those areas to spread information about children's rights," Huu said.
The department also organised talks about the problem, and encouraged victims of child abuse to attend and talk about their experiences.
"We are working with the Ministry of Education and Training to improve awareness on children's rights and get prevention of child abuse onto the syllabus," Huu said.
Victims of child abuse could call the department's hotline 18001567, which is available 24/7, he added.
"The most important thing is for relevant departments and bodies to join hands to reduce poverty, which is the main reason of child abuse," Huu said. — VNS
