Chairwoman of the National Assembly’s Committee of Judicial Affairs Le Thi Nga at the meeting (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Chairwoman of the National Assembly (NA)’s Committee of Judicial Affairs, Le Thi Nga, presented a report on the outcomes of legal enforcement of child abuse prevention and control from January 1, 2015 to June 30, 2019 during the 14th NA’s ninth session in Hanoi on the morning of May 27.
Apart from the achievements, Nga, who is also a representative of the NA delegation in charge of supervising legal enforcement of child abuse prevention and control, pointed out that several regulations in the Law on Children and related laws lack guidelines, while administrative fines regarding child care and protection are simply not strict enough. Campaigns to raise public awareness about child abuse prevention, meanwhile, remain limited.
Many localities are yet to provide full and accurate figures on the number of children living in an especially disadvantaged situation.
Inspection work has not been conducted regularly or effectively, and child abuse remains a complicated social issue.
According to a Government report, there were 8,442 child abuse cases nationwide during the period, with 8,709 child victims.
Nga attributed these problems to a lack of attention from some local authorities and Party units, resulting in ineffective State management on child abuse prevention and control and loose coordination between schools, families, and local authorities.
Moreover, the adverse impact of social media also creates the possibility of child abuse in cyberspace, she said.
The NA’s supervision delegation sent suggestions to the Party Central Committee, the legislature and its organs, the Government and ministries, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the Supreme People’s Court, and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee and its chapters.
The delegation suggested the Government issue the National Action Programme for Children for the 2021-2030 Period, a programme on reducing child labour for 2021-2025 and orientations to 2030, a set of criteria for statistics on administrative fines regarding child abuse, and schemes to fight child abuse in families, schools, and cyberspace.
They also proposed the Supreme People’s Procuracy and Supreme People’s Court launch criminal proceedings against all violators, with over 90 percent of child abuse cases to be addressed in court.
Local authorities must fully comply with the Law on Children as well as bolster inspection activities in the field./.
