Child abuse ignored as deaths mount: doctor

PUBLIC VIGILANCE: Finding witnesses and evidence for child abuse is difficult, as it mostly takes place at home and family members might hide the truth, Henry Lee said

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter





A total of 155 children in Taiwan died as a result of child abuse last year, when only 4,138, or about 7 percent, 59,912 of abuse and neglect reports filed were investigated, a physician said yesterday.

The Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口) in November last year established a child protection center, which held its first seminar yesterday.

Hsia Shao-hsuan (夏紹軒), director of the Pediatric Critical Care Division at the Children’s Medical Center, said the number of child abuse and neglect reports have been gradually increasing over the past few years, but only a small percentage have been accepted as cases to be investigated by the authorities.

The hospital alone reported 141 children who were seriously injured or died due to suspected child abuse or neglect between January and October last year, but social welfare departments filed complaints on only four of them — less than 3 percent — he said.

The seminar was also attended by renowned Chinese-American forensic scientist Henry Lee (李昌鈺), who shared his experiences in dealing with criminal child abuse cases and gave tips on how to recognize signs of child abuse.

Lee said child abuse often occurs at home, which makes it difficult to find witnesses and evidence, as well as conduct crime scene investigation, as family members might not tell the truth or hide evidence, and the child might not be able to describe what happened.

If medical practitioners lack judicial literacy and the ability to recognize child abuse, they might fail to make a detailed record of the injuries or even neglect important evidence on clothing, he added.

More than 1.5 million child abuse cases are reported annually in the US, Lee said.

Children brought up in an abusive environment might suffer from lifelong mental or physical trauma, he said, adding that it is important that teachers and other people report suspected abuse cases.

The public cannot solely depend on hospitals and the police to solve child abuse cases, it must be wary of child abuse to help protect children, Lee said.

Lee was asked about Taiwanese student Sun An-tso (孫安佐), who is being held in custody at the Delaware County Jail for threatening to “shoot up” his high school in Pennsylvania, after Sun’s family said that he saw Lee as a role model.

“I hope he [Sun] can learn from this unfortunate case and become a decent person who contributes to the nation and society,” Lee said, adding that many children see him as a role model, and his experience shows that accomplishments are gradually achieved by studying hard and working step by step, as well as being decent.