Children Outside the Safety Net... Abuse Increases While Number of Protected Children Decreases

Protected Children Decreased by Over 40% in 10 Years
Abuse Statistics Rising... Record High Last Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] A woman in her 40s who left a middle school child unattended in a house full of garbage in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, has been handed over to the prosecution. The Gangnam Police Station in Seoul sent Ms. A, a woman in her 40s, to prosecution under custody on the 29th of last month on charges of violating the Child Welfare Act. Ms. A is accused of neglecting to raise a middle school child by leaving the child unattended in a house in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, from March until last month.

Although Ms. A and the child’s registered address was in Gwanak-gu, they actually lived in Gangnam-gu, which reportedly caused them to fall outside the safety net of public institutions such as the district office, community center, and police. In particular, despite Ms. A having a prior record of similar offenses, the child was not detected by existing welfare services aimed at preventing child abuse, drawing public sympathy.

While child abuse cases have been on the rise every year, the number of children under government support and management has been steadily decreasing. There are also criticisms that the social safety net is not functioning properly.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on the 8th, the number of children under protection in South Korea decreased by more than 40%, from 8,003 in 2012 to 5,221 in 2016, and further down to 4,741 in 2021. However, during the same period, the number of children under protection due to child abuse increased from 1,122 in 2012 to 1,442 in 2016, and 1,733 in 2021. This trend aligns with the annual increase in child abuse reports.

According to the "2021 Child Abuse Annual Report," the number of child abuse reports last year surged by 27.6% compared to the previous year, reaching 53,932 cases?the highest since reporting began. As of last year, the proportion of children designated as protected children compared to the number of child abuse reports was only 3.2%. This indicates that many abused children remain outside the social safety net.

Protected children refer to those who have no guardian, have been separated from their guardian, or whose guardian is abusing them?in other words, children whose guardians are unsuitable or incapable of raising them. They can receive child protection services from birth until they turn 18 years old, and under recently amended laws, this period has been extended by seven years, allowing services until the age of 25.

Experts emphasize the urgent need to establish a clear system for identifying abused children and preventing abuse early. Kang Mi-jung, Head of the Child Rights Policy Team at Save the Children, stated, “It is a very important time to understand why protected children are being missed and to review cooperation and coordination systems. Adults must be able to quickly recognize the small signals children send.”

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