Action Month for Children 2022 to combat child abuse, raise awareness

Elementary school students in the central province of Quảng Trị learn about child rights. VNA/VnExpress News Photo Hồ Cầu  

HÀ NỘI — Action Month for Children 2022 will call for more efforts in child protection and child abuse prevention, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) has announced.

The activities take place annually every June, to enhance the sense of responsibility among sectors and organisations in child protection and to ensure a safe summer for kids.

In the framework of the action month, a launch ceremony is slated for May 27 to June 1, together with an event responding to the World Day Against Child Labour on June 12.

The People’s Committees of localities nationwide are asked to build plans for activities for the action month suitable to their conditions and to raise awareness and skills in child protection.

Measures to fight sexual abuse and violence against children, offering shelter to children and an emergency helpline (111) for child protection, must be popularised.

Localities are also required to regularly check so as to detect high-risk locations prone to child-related accidents and to call on organisations and individuals to support victims of abuse. 

According to the MoLISA’s report, in 2021, the Ministry of Public Security detected 1,914 child abuse cases nationwide, an annual decrease of 31 cases. However, a number of severe cases that outraged the public took place.

Meanwhile, child protection, particularly against domestic violence, had yet to receive adequate attention. A report by the helpline said children abused by their relatives accounted for the lion’s share of the total cases last year, at 72.84 per cent, which represented an annual increase of 5.3 per cent. — VnExpress News