Up to 8,700 children in Vietnam were abused between 2015 and 2019 with the majority being sexually harassed.
The information was given in a report on the law and policy implementation on child abuse prevention discussed at a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on April 27 in Hanoi.
The meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on April 27 in Hanoi
The report showed that between January 2015 and June 2019 period, around 8,700 children in Vietnam were found abused.
Among those, 6,400 or 75.4% of the total were sexually harassed; 857 were violently abused and more than 100 were trafficked.
The rate of sexually-harassed children in many localities such as Can Tho City, Hau Giang, Kien Giang and Dong Nai provinces accounted for 90% of their total number of abused children.
According to National Assembly delegates, in many cases, the discovery of the abuse remained slow, physically and mentally harming the children. They also cited a report from the Vietnamese government as saying that at present, around 790,500 children in the country are working illegally; roughly 157,000 are abandoned and 13,500 children aged 15 are forced to get married.
More girls were sexually abused by their relatives, including fathers or grandfathers.
The National Switchboard for Protection of Children 111 said that the number of child abuse cases caused by relatives accounted for up to 65.88% among the calls.
The report indicated that from 2015-2019, abuse cases killed 337 children; 418 were pregnant; 193 suffered mental disorders and 180 had to leave school.
During the time, 7,119 child abuse cases were prosecuted.
The delegates warned that child abuse would continue in the coming time.
