[Child Abuse, No Solution?] Children Returning to Hell

<중> Eight out of Ten Abused Children Return Home

‘Original Family Protection Principle’ Applied in 82% of Cases
‘Abuse Recurrence’ Causes 69% of Side Effects
Experts Say “Separation Needed Considering Recurrence Risk”

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] The abuse by parents toward A (9), who was ultimately found dead trapped inside a travel bag in Cheonan, Chungnam, was a tragedy that could have been prevented. On Children's Day this year, a doctor who treated A, who visited the hospital with a torn forehead, suspected child abuse and reported it to the police. However, the police did not even dispatch officers to the scene, and the child protection agency that visited A's home took no significant action, citing that "the parents are remorseful and A does not want to be separated."

The "principle of family preservation," contrary to its intent, has been criticized for causing side effects by neglecting preventable child abuse cases. There are calls to revise the law itself before more child victims occur. Among the 24,604 domestic child abuse cases recorded by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2018, 20,164 cases (82%) applied the "principle of family preservation." This is overwhelmingly more than the 3,287 cases (13.4%) where the abuser and child were separated without applying this principle.

According to the current Child Welfare Act, the "principle of family preservation" is defined as "the state shall support children to grow up in their birth families as much as possible, and when children are separated from their families for protection, they should be returned promptly." However, Gong Hye-jung, president of the Korea Child Abuse Prevention Association, said, "Looking at recent child abuse cases, many involve signs of habitual abuse or situations with very high risk of abuse due to the home environment," adding, "Counseling should have been conducted sufficiently while the child was separated, properly assessing the home situation and taking appropriate measures."

The fact that the principle of family preservation is a factor in abuse recurrence is also proven by statistics. According to data from the Child Rights Protection Agency, among 2,543 cases of child re-abuse in 2018, 69% maintained family preservation from the first abuse discovery to the final action. The proportion of re-abuse cases among child abuse incidents has also been increasing, from 8.5% in 2016 to 9.7% in 2017, and 10.3% in 2018.

B (5), who died in Michuhol-gu, Incheon, last September, was also a victim of re-abuse. B lived in an orphanage for about two years separated from his parents, then returned home after his stepfather requested his return, but died within about 20 days. At that time, the stepfather promised counseling treatment and monthly home visits but cut off contact and received no follow-up care. This exploited the lack of legal binding force, making enforcement impossible.

Experts also mention the need to improve the blind spots of the principle of family preservation. Lee Soo-jung, professor of criminal psychology at Kyonggi University, emphasized, "Rather than uniformly applying the Child Welfare Act, the possibility of recurrence should be thoroughly examined to decide whether to separate the abuser from the child," adding, "The current system where child protection agencies handle child abuse cases exclusively needs to be improved so that judicial institutions with enforcement authority can intervene."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.