2010年8月30日月曜日

Japan Child Abuse

Survey uncovers long-term abuse of children taken into protective custody - The Mainichi Daily News

During the survey period, 199 of the 201 child consultation centers across Japan received a total of 16,817 inquiries about abuse. Of these, the survey focused on 614 children who had been taken into temporary custody without their parents' consent, or whose parents later reversed their consent for their child to be in custody. The average age of the children was 8 1/2.

Among the children taken into custody were 38 whose lives were at risk from causes such as weakened physical condition; 158 who had been seriously abused, including those with injuries that needed ongoing medical treatment; and 254 subjected to mid-level abuse including victims of chronic violence.

A total of 146 of the children, or 23.8 percent, were taken into temporary custody three years or more after the abuse started. For another 124 children (20.2 percent) it took between one and three years for them to be taken into custody. Eighty-two were taken into protective custody between six months and a year after the abused started. For 108 children the period was between one and six months, and for 104 the figure was less than one month. Statistics for another 50 children were not available.

A total of 301 of the children, or 49.0 percent, wanted to be taken into protective custody, while 43 children didn't want to go into custody. The wishes of another 110 children could not be confirmed because of their young age.

In cases where children's lives were at risk, the number of children who wanted to be taken into custody -- six --was the same as the number of those who were against such a move.

Eleven of the 43 children whose parents had objected to them being taken into custody had been abused for a period of three or more years.