The refusal of a community in Taichung City to let victims of child abuse move into their neighborhood not only drew criticism from the public, but also highlighted the kind of problems that the minority group faces.

In May, the Chang Shiow-jyu Social Welfare Foundation bought two houses in the community in a bid to provide housing for 15 victims of child abuse aged 12 to 18, so that they could start their lives afresh.

However, a committee formed by residents of the community passed a 'resolution' in June to prohibit the teenagers from moving in under the pretext of maintaining the "high quality" of the neighborhood.

Despite two rounds of negotiations between the committee and the foundation, the residents are still unwilling to let the teens settle amongst them.

The foundation had stated that the two houses were detached buildings and in no way connected to other households; they also said the children would pass in and out of the community through the back gate and not the front gate, but the committee still thought the presence of the 'troubled' kids would jeopardize public security.

The director-general of the foundation, Chang Liang-chin, said that his foundation would consider filing a lawsuit against the community in accordance with the Children and Youth Welfare Act if the residents could not be persuaded to be charitable to the teenagers.

Lee Kun-ming, the deputy director of the Social Affairs Department under the city government noted that as the social welfare organization had operated well within the law, residents had absolutely no right to oppose the organization's activities in the community.

One local resident surnamed Lee, who is opposed to letting the children live in the community, voiced concerns that real estate prices would sharply decrease due to the presence of the children.

That kind of reasoning was too much for Alicia Wang, the executive director of the Child Welfare League Foundation, who lambasted the "high quality" community residents for ignoring the rights of the children and preventing the foundation from helping them.

One resident of the community, Lin Ching-chiu backed up Wang's comment by saying that she now regarded her neighbors with utter contempt for not being more sympathetic.

Numerous lawyers have pointed out that the community residents' resolution must be regarded as invalid because it discriminates against the children and obviously violates laws intended to protect their rights and interests.

Worsening problem

According to the Ministry of the Interior, the number of child abuse victims increased from 7,837 to 9,897 from 2004 to last year, showing that the problem of child abuse is getting much more serious.

Despite the gravity of the situation, social welfare organizations frequently meet fierce opposition from residents when they plan to settle down in or near a certain area.

For example, last year, Harmony Home established a center in Kaohsiung City to take in people with AIDS, but local residents protested. Harmony Home continued with its efforts to run the center.

The head of the city district, Su Yung-shu, noted that the human rights of the patients must be respected and the center could not be asked to move from the district.

Moreover, in 2003, one resident of a community in Taoyuan County was indicted because he attempted to prevent a Vocational Training Center for Mentally Retarded from being set up in his community.

Last August, 12 mentally retarded students and their teachers were finally able to relocate there after social welfare organizations intervened to ensure that their rights were being protected.