By Xie Caifeng (
China Daily) 08:13, October 23, 2013
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Comments twitter facebook Sina Microblog reddit A series of child abuse cases has hit the headlines recently: four steel needles inserted intothe body of a baby girl by her biological father; a seven-year-old girl drowned by her step-mother; little children in kindergarten beaten up by teachers. Such atrocities have appalledpeople across the country and left them wondering how children can be better protected.
Unfortunately, the existing laws are not powerful enough to ensure punishment toperpetrators or deter potential offenders. Often, police don't investigate minor child abusecases because people generally believe that parents and teachers do have the right tophysically punish a child. According to traditional thinking, the rod should not be sparedwhen it comes to children's education, and physical punishment helps children grow up intoknowledgeable, responsible and obedient adults.
So police intervene only if children suffer from serious physical injuries. In such cases, thelaw enforcement agencies often apply the Law of the People's Republic of China onAdministrative Penalties for Public Security (or Law on Public Security). According to thelaw, a person could be detained for up to 15 days and fined a maximum of 1,000 yuan($163.4) for intentionally causing physical harm to a child. But the clause is rarely invokedin a child abuse case.
The other two important child protection laws are the Law of the People's Republic ofChina on Protection of Minors (or Law on Protection of Minors) and the Criminal Law ofthe People's Republic of China (or Criminal Law). Although many clauses of the Law onProtection of Minors are devoted to protecting children's rights, it is by nature a soft lawthat does not advocate strict punishment, and thus plays a limited role in deterring childabuse.
The most powerful weapon against child abuse could be the Criminal Law, but it is notdesigned to deal with such cases. The Criminal Law only deals with the "crime of abuse",not the "crime of child abuse", and even the clauses on the crime of abuse have fourinherent loopholes when it comes to deterring child abuse.
First, the law merely covers crime in the family. Non-family members such asschoolteachers and daycare center employees are thus beyond the purview of the law.
Second, only if an incident is "extremely serious" can an abuse be treated as a crime underthe law.
Third, since the law sees a crime as a matter of private prosecution, the victim himself orherself has to file a case before a court of law to seek justice. Do we expect children to havethe legal knowledge, let alone expertise, to move court against an abuse? Moreover, thereare no public or private organizations competent enough to file a case on behalf of anabused child. The result: the "crime of child abuse" is rarely applied in child abuse cases.
And fourth, the punishment for child abuse is often very light. The offender gets away withjust two years' imprisonment for even the severest of child abuse. Worse, even if the victimis tortured to death, the perpetrator can at best be imprisoned for seven years.
The story is quite different in Western counties. In the United States, and European Unionand other developed countries, child abuse is a serious crime that invites the severest ofpunishments. Take the US for example. Child abuse cases have a wide scope, from physicalabuse, emotional abuse and sexual abuse to neglect.
In June this year, a couple in the US were arrested and charged with child abuse becausethey spent their days playing World of Warcraft and did not fulfill the needs of and providethe appropriate living environment for their children. The couple face up to seven years injail. Chinese people would see such a case as being intrusive on family life and unjust.
Abuse could leave a permanent scar on a child. According to the World HealthOrganization, a child that suffers abuse is vulnerable to many physical, emotional andbehavioral conditions, such as obesity, depression, suicidal tendency, accidental pregnancy,and risky sexual behavior.
In the light of the above facts, Chinese parents and society as whole should change theirmindset. They have to understand that it is not a good idea to beat up children in order toeducate them.
Like their counterparts in other countries, Chinese too believe children are the future ofthe nation. But if they cannot provide children a safe and sound childhood, how can theyexpect them to grow up and lead the nation?
And despite not being the panacea against the ills of child abuse, laws can indeed be used todeter potential offenders. Therefore, to protect children from abuse, the governmentshould amend some laws and make child abuse a crime.
The author is a fellow at the research office of Shunyi district people's court in Beijing.
（Editor：GaoYinan、Chen Lidan）
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