<aside> 🔗 数据｜看不见的儿童性侵案
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<aside> 🔗 Millions of children in China ‘victims of sexual assault’ | South China Morning Post (scmp.com)
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In April 2020, Pengpai News and Nanfengchuang, two digital newspapers exposed their investigations on Bao Yuming, a vice president of a Chinese enterprise who sexually assaulted and abused an underage girl from 2016 to 2019. The event then became a catalyst that brings child molestation back to the public’s attention.
According to a survey by Peking University, about 8-12% of China’s 270 million minors faced some form of sexual assault. That means nearly 30 million Chinese children could have been victims of sexual abuse, and among them, 2.7 million faced the worst kind.
There are various difficulties dealing with this serious social problem, such as the lack of sexual education, the attitude of parents and guardians, the power imbalance between perpetrators and victims, and the psychological trauma of children.
The Chinese government and media have increasingly criticized and punished the perpetrators of child sexual abuse, and called for more protection and support for the victims. Some steps were being taken, with more social workers in communities to deal with the issue. In addition, the procuratorate of Guangzhou city said it had established a database of criminals convicted of child molestation in the past three years.
But these actions are far from enough for the social scourge. Facing the elephant in the room, the only choice for us is to say “no” to the evil, to probe into prevention mechanisms, to question judicial loopholes, and most importantly, to refuse to be a silent conspirator.