Child Protection around the World –
A Global Perspective
Far East: Focus on
Hong Kong and Mainland China
Patricia Ip
Hong Kong
China
• Mainland*
• Hong Kong Special Administrative Region*
• Macau Special Administrative Region
* Focus of current presentation
• Mainly on the child protection system in Hong Kong
with observations on child protection in mainland
China
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Demographic Data of Hong Kong (HK)
Area
• 1,104 square kilometres (<25%
developed)
Population
• 7.0 million
Children (<18 years)
• 1.13 million (16.1%)
Chinese descent
• 95%
Birth rate
• 11.7/1000 population
Infant mortality
• 1.6/1000 live births
Life expectancy
female
male
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• 86.1 years
• 79.8 years
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Child Protection System
and its evolution
in
Hong Kong
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Developing a child protection system
WHO / ISPCAN (2006)
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www.ispcan.org
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Procedural Guide for Handling Child
Abuse Cases (1981; latest revision 2007)
•
•
•
•
Basic knowledge on child abuse
Multi-disciplinary collaboration
Handling referrals / enquiry / investigation
Roles of relevant departments / organisations
http://www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_pubsvc/page_family/sub_fcwproc
edure/id_childabuse1998/
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Reports of Suspected Child Abuse
Childcare
worker
Child, parent,
family
member
Teacher
Health
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Public
Social
work
Police
8
Management
• Investigation
– Social
– Medical
– Police
Individual unit and in collaboration
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Multidisciplinary Case Conference
 Participants







Social workers
Doctors
Nurses
Clinical psychologist
Police
School personnel
Parents / child
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 Agenda
 Sharing of information
 Risk assessment – child and other family
members
 Services to child, other family members
 Whether child abuse established,
category
 Need to enter into the Child Protection
Registry
 Home or alternative placement
 Follow-up arrangement – by whom, for
what
 Progress report / Review conference
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Post-Case Conference
• Social: Social worker - case manager
–
–
–
–
Counselling, financial, housing assistance
Liaison
Follow-up Report
Review meeting
• Health:
– Medical treatment / follow-up
– Psychiatric / psychological treatment
• Police
– +/- legal action
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Evolution of Child Protection System
Recognition of Child Abuse in HK
1978 Lai Shuk Mai – child
seriously abused
Media publicity
1979 Professional concern
International Year of the Child
Against Child Abuse (ACA) pilot project
Hotline
1980
Registered as organisation providing
preventive and remedial services
1981 Cases mismanaged
SWD Procedures for Handling Child
Abuse cases
1982 Facilitation of reports SWD hotline
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1983
Realisation of
(2000)
complexity of cases
Specialisation
SWD Child Protective Service Unit
(renamed Family and Child
Protective Services Unit)
1983
Multiple disciplines
involved
SWD Working Group ->
Committee on Child Abuse
1986
Multiple agencies
involved
Cross-checking, data
and trend monitoring
Child Protection Registry
1993
Multidisciplinary
communication on
district level
Multi-disciplinary District Forum on
Child Abuse
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New Child Abuse Cases
Child Protection Registry
. http://www.swd.gov.hk/vs/english/stat.html
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Forms of Abuse
Child Protection Registry
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Physical Abuse
Child Protection Registry
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Physical Abuse
• Prior to 1992:
>85% of all abuse cases
• Stabilised gradually to ~ 50%
• Actual numbers increasing
• 1979: The Child in Hong Kong: Evaluation Report
for International Year of the Child
need law to “reject unequivocally the use of physical
violence as a means of rearing children” (Maria Tam)
• 1990: banned corporal punishment in penal system
• 1991: banned corporal punishment in schools
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• 2004: ACA celebrating SpankOut Day
• 2005: ACA – Declaration against Violence towards
Children
– Signed by Director of Social Welfare on behalf of the
government but reservation on banning corporal
punishment at home by law
• 2006: child died in suitcase in the name of corporal
punishment
• Fresh calls to ban corporal punishment
– Joint study with Save the Children Sweden
– Visits by Peter Newell, Joan Durrant
• No specific legislation on banning corporal
punishment yet
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Child Sexual Abuse
Child Protection Registry
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Recognition of Child Sexual Abuse
• Few reports prior to the 1990’s
• 1993 - Failed conviction of sexual abuse of a mentally
handicapped woman for technical reasons
• Legislative Amendments
– 1995: Criminal Procedure and Evidence (Amendment) Bills
• Child < 14 yrs can give unsworn evidence
• Corroboration of a young child’s unsworn evidence not
required
• Video recorded interview used as evidence in court
• Child < 7 yrs can give evidence in court
• Testify in court via television link
– 1996: Witness support programme
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Modification of Procedures
for handling child abuse cases
• For Child Sexual Abuse
– Reports to either
• SWD: Family and Child Protective Services Unit
• Police: Child Abuse Investigation Unit
–
–
–
–
Strategic planning
Joint investigation
Video recorded interview
Medical Coordinators on Child Sexual Abuse
(renamed Medical Coordinators on Child Abuse)
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• Periodic reports on local paedophiles and child sex
tourism
• 1996 started discussions about law against child
pornography
• 2003 Prevention of Child Pornography Bill
– Production, possession
– Visual depiction – photograph or computer
generated
– Sex tourism
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• Variable sentencing
– Maximum fine $2 million and 8 years jail sentence
– Actual sentencing
• Possession of 1,150 images, 245 video files
6 months suspended sentence, $20,000 fine
• Possession of 8,300 photos, 205 video files
200 hours of community service
–
–
• 2008 Court of Appeal Sentencing Guideline
– Automatic jail sentence with rare exceptions
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Paedophilia – HK a Haven?
“Gary Glitter dreams of freedom and a home in Hong
Kong” (South China Morning Post 28 Jan 2008)
– “Disgraced former pop star Gary Glitter may be released early
from his prison term in Vietnam after suffering a suspected
heart attack - and the convicted paedophile is considering
starting a new life in Hong Kong.”
– “Observers point out that Hong Kong has two particularly
appealing elements for a paedophile with a weak heart: worldclass public hospitals and no sex offenders' register to track his
movements.”
– Comment from Glitter: “It's a big city where I can go around
without being noticed. But I’ll be able to get English food
there.”
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• 2002 - involvement of clergy, tutors
- reports of repeat sex offenders
• 2008 Consultation on Sex Offender Registry
– Voluntary system of checking by employer with
consent of employee in work situations
involving children, mentally incapacitated
persons
– Logistics will be worked out in 2011
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Child Neglect
Child Protection Registry
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Child Neglect
• ~3 - 6% of cases till 2005
• Increased to 12% in 2007
• mid-1980’s: ACA advocating on issue of unattended
children
• end-1980’s: 30 children / year dying while being left
unattended at home
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• 1991: Government consultation paper: “Measures
to Prevent Children from Being Left Unattended at
Home”
– Education
– Support
– Legislation
• Occasional Child Care Centres
• 1997: Child Care Centres (Amendment) Bill
– Facilitate mutual help childcare groups (< 5 children)
– Certain categories of unsuitable persons prohibited
as childminders (self-application of certificate – not
a prohibited person)
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• 2005-2007 child neglect involving children left
unattended at home
police involved on 49 occasions
– 1 death falling from height
– 5 smoke inhalation
– 3 injured with falls at home
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• Government recommendation
– Education
– Support: Promote extended hours childcare
services
• Pilot of Neighbourhood mutual help childcare
– No specific legislation required against leaving
children unattended
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Psychological Abuse
• ~ 2% of child abuse cases
• 1986: Kwok Ah Nui incident
– Child kept at home from school by emotionally
disturbed mother
• 1993: Protection of Children and Juvenile
Ordinance
– Assessment Order: intervene when psychological
abuse suspected without child removed from home
– Hospital as Place of Refuge
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Child Fatality Review
• Pilot scheme started in 2008 (under SWD)
– Deaths in the previous 2 years (2006-7)
– Completed all legal proceedings
– Voluntary submission of information
– Voluntary response to recommendations of panel
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First Report (2010)
• Deaths in 2006
– 107 children reported to coroner’s court
with legal proceedings completed
• 61 natural
• 46 non-natural
– 20 accidents including 11 traffic accidents and
5 fell from height (3 unattended)
– 14 suicide (13 fell from height)
– 12 others
» 4 assault (3 by parents)
» 2 Medical complications
» 6 unknown
http://www.swd.gov.hk/doc/whatsnew/201001/PPCFR1R.pdf
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Strengths of the
Child Protection System
• Multidisciplinary approach
– Procedures with role delineation
– Joint training
– Regular communication
• Choice of government and non-government
service
• Child Protection Registry / Electronic patient
record system
• Minimal cost to user
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Challenges
• Defining abuse
• Complexity and workload
• Recruitment and retention of experienced
workers - police and social work units’ policy of staff
rotation
• Availability of alternative placements
• Changing social needs
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Ongoing Concerns & Emerging Issues
•
•
•
•
•
•
Mandatory Reporting
Mandatory Treatment
Child Fatality / Serious Case Review
Clear prohibition of physical violence towards children
Clear prohibition against children left unattended
Repeat sex offenders - Lack of mandatory background check
of workers in child-related professions
• Juvenile Sex Offenders
• Cybersafety
• Data collection
• Research on outcomes of intervention
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Prevention
上醫 Before
中醫 To be
下醫 After
(Huangdi Neijing
“Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon” )
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Prevention
• Child Protection Registry
– Cases registered after multidisciplinary case
conferences
– 0.6/1,000children <18 years (2005)
• ~ 1% of cases received professional attention
Study on Child Abuse and Spouse Battering: Report on findings
of Household Survey, Chan KL, University of HK 2005
www.swd.gov.hk/doc/family/Report%20on%20findings%20of%20Household%2
0Survey.pdf
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Social Welfare - One Stop Service
Integrated Family Service Centres
3
2
1
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Other Preventive Efforts
• Family Life Education
• Maternal and Child Health Centres
– Parenting Education
– Triple P
Child Health Services in Hong Kong. Ip FLY
HKJ Paediatr (new series) 2008.13:180-182
Reasons for dropout:
conflicting working hours
existing family problems
lack of childcare
personal stress
• Comprehensive Child Development Service 2006
Reaching the hard to reach
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Enabling Parents to be Parents
• CRC Article 18...
– State Parties shall render appropriate assistance to
parents and legal guardians in the performance of their
child-rearing responsibilities...
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• Employment
– Unemployment rate: 4.3%
– Under employment rate: 2%
• Minimum wage
– To be HKD28 (USD 3.60)/hr (May 2011)
– 300,000 currently below this minimum
• Long working hours
– > 60 hrs: 700,000 people (1 in 5 of employed)
• “5-day week / 7-day service”
• Widening income gap
– Gini Coefficient: 0.533 (2006)
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Child Empowerment
Hong Kong Committee on Children’s Rights 1995
1995 Youth Conference
on Children’s Rights
2004
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A Child-led Organization
Kids’ Dream
2003
Kids Dream
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Legislative Council Candidate Forum
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17th ISPCAN Congress Pre-Congress Workshop
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Child Protection Web Platform
• Launched Jan 2011
• Objectives
– Children’s Rights
– Child safety: Home, outdoor, body, online
– Stop child abuse
– Children’s Voice
http://acachild.asia/web/main.html?lang=en
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Hong Kong’s
Development in Child Protection
Reactive
• Incident driven
• Service development
• Legislative changes
Proactive
Strengthening Rights
of the Child
• Child Policy
• Child Commission
• Child Ordinance
Reference
Ip PLS. Child protection system in Hong Kong. Int J Child Health and Human Dev
2009;2:349-56.
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Child Protection in
Mainland China
People’s Republic of China
Combined 3rd / 4th Report on the Implementation of
the Convention on the Rights of the Child
• Child Policy
• Child Commission
• Child Ordinance
http://big5.fmprc.gov.cn/gate/big5/www.fmprc.gov.cn/chn/gx
h/zlb/tyfg/t738182.htm
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• National Plan of Action
– Child Development Agenda (every 10 years)
• Data Collection and Analysis
• Monitoring of achievement of targets
• Committee for Women and Children
• Legislation
– Human rights, education, child labour, legal aid,
juvenile justice, entertainment centres,
cyberspace
– Protection of Minors Ordinance (2007)
• Right to Survival, Development, Protection,
Participation
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Child Protection
• Protection of Minors Ordinance
– Prohibit family violence
– Prohibit corporal punishment, degrading treatment in
schools
• Right to Legal Aid
• Protection of Minors Professional Associations
• Hotlines
– Youth organisation: counselling and legal information
– Child emergency hotline (Xi’an, Shaanxi)
• Domestic Violence
– Hotlines for reports
–(59)Assessment
centres
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Child Abuse Prevention & Aid Center
• 2006 – Xi’an, Shaanxi
– Medical Treatment
– Psychological service for abused children and
family
– Social worker follow-up through phone and home
visits
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• Family Life Education
– All-China Women’s Federation
• Child self protection
– Schools
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Country Reports
•
•
•
•
•
Have / Have not
Numbers / Coverage
Accessibility
Quality
Implementation & monitoring
– How / Effectiveness
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Mainland China (2008)
Vast country
Varied conditions
• Provinces, autonomous regions,
municipalities:
31
• Population:
1.3 billion
• Childhood population:
0.3 billion (23%)
• Infant mortality:
14.9% (2000: 32.2%)
• Under-5 mortality:
18.5% (2000: 39.7%)
– West inland 2X that of East coastal regions
• Migrant children (from rural
areas with parents working in cities) 27 million
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•
•
•
•
Defining child abuse
Recognition
Investigation
Management
– Social work
– Health (for 0.3 billion children)
• 69 children hospitals (2007)
• 6,273 hospitals with children’s department (2007)
• Financing
– Legal support and law enforcement
• 2002-2008: crimes on abuse and abandonment
• Sentencing 902 cases involving 915 perpetrators
(victims include adults)
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Hong Kong and Mainland China
• Deng Xiaoping 1982
– One country Two systems
– 50 years no change
• Change is inevitable
– CEPA (Closer Economic Partnership Agreement)
– Visitors from mainland to HK each day (~60,000)
– Births in HK (2009)
• 82,906
• One parent mainland resident: 6,213 (7%)
• Both parents mainland residents: 29,766 (36%)
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