Top 10 of 2016 Worst Child Abused News in Taiwan

2016/12/14

“There is an incredible secret in our family." said three sisters. You will never guess what happened to them. Their biological father has been convicted of 306 sex offences against children and three sisters have been sexually abused by their father over 8 years. Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a universal problem with grave life-long outcomes.

After collecting 156 child abuse-related cases across Taiwan from January through October 2016, Taiwan Fund for Children and Families (TFCF) announced the top 10 of 2016 worst child abused news and listed disturbing instances of mistreatment of children in Taiwan. The list drew attention to a number of gruesome child abuse cases and found that 33 percent of news stories were child sexual abuse cases and 47.1 percent of the perpetrators were family members to the victim. The top one ranked case was 4-year-old girl beheaded in Taipei random attack. Newly our President Tsai Ing-wen wants the country to tackle these crimes through education and the economy while improving help for mental health issues

 

Table1: The list of top 10 of 2016 worst child abused news in Taiwan as below.

Rank

Headline

Date

1

4-year-old girl beheaded in Taipei random attack

2016.03.29

2

Long-handled cleaning brush killed 4-year-old boy by the father's cohabitant

2016.02.17

3

The mother's cohabitant killer beat 5-year-old boy to death

2016.06.26

4

4-year-old girl and 10-month-old baby were killed and disposed by their father

2016.08.18

5

11 year-old boy killed in shelter by a nursery-governess

2016.10.11

6

Woman killed two children and herself in charcoal-burning murder-suicide

2016.09.01

7

12-year-old girl was knifed in the neck and her mother's ex-boyfriend was under suspicion

2016.04.01

8

30 year-old woman suffocated her two sons and killed herself

2016.05.05

9

Silent no more! Confessed to public his childhood sexual trauma

2016.05.11

10

5th grade girl and her young sister have been sexually abused by father over 4 years

2016.01.24

 According to the statistics of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), it indicated that 5,649 children were treated improperly in the first half of 2016. Furthermore, there were 31 abused children increasing daily and near a quarter of children suffering abused under age six (24.57%). In the first half of 2016, the number of child deaths was as high as 75 which was far exceeding the number of children who died in previous years.

 

Table2: Children killed by abuse or neglect over the past five years in Taiwan

Year

Number of deaths

Percentage

2012

65

0.30%

2013

48

0.27%

2014

59

0.47%

2015

68

0.67%

2016 First-Half

75

1.33%

* Data released by the Department of Statistics of the MOHW

 

The increase of the child abused cases and deaths highlighted the high risk of the children under age six. The government and child welfare agencies should strengthen support and care mechanisms across high-risk families in order to prevent from the incidence and prevalence of child abuse. 

“It is regrettable that the tragedy of random beheading hit Taipei city and it has been the most shocking news in a long time.” said TFCF CEO, Ms. Betty Ho. She urged the public to be aware and observe any odd behaviors or abnormalities in children and youths. Do not hesitate to give a helping hand whenever any child abused found. Everyone is expected to report every instance of suspected child abuse or neglect immediately. We all have the responsibility to establish a comprehensive network of child protection to keep children safe from any violence.

 

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