Welfare group calls for system to stem child sex abuse

As it released a list of top 10 news stories relating to children yesterday -- seven of which involved sexual abuse -- a childrens' welfare group urged the government to establish a system to guard against child sex abuse.

"The increase in sexual offenses and the diversity of sexual offenders shows the immediate need for the establishment of a system to prevent child sex abuse," said Chen Bang-hong (陳邦宏), secretary-general of the China's Children Fund (CCF). Chen made the comments at the press conference at which the top 10 stories were released.

In response, Lin Tzu-ling (林慈玲), secretary-general of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Council under the Ministry of the Interior, said the council is working to establish a community security sys-tem. The system would trace former sex offenders and notify the communities where they live.

The case of an elementary school student who informed her teacher that she had been sexually assaulted by her father and her uncle but was forced by the court to be reunited with her family was ranked as the top children's news story for last year.

"We believe that children would never lie. But the family's campaign through the media and legislators forced the child to revise her account, which shocked most of the social workers and professionals," said Su Chiong-hwa (蘇瓊華), a CCF official.

News that a 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped and killed by her neighbor, a convicted sex offender, in Panchiao, after screaming for help on July 5 last year was ranked as the No. 2 story.

The CCF said that the incident shows the need for a community security mechanism.

The story of a Roman Catholic priest who sexually assaulted three teenagers while counselling them was ranked No. 5.

News that two children allegedly assaulted a three-year-old girl after visiting pornographic Web sites also made it into the top 10.

The case case of a 14-year-old girl who was forced by her mother to participate in a sex session in which her mother committed adultery and who was abused by her stepfather ranked 10th on the list.

Aside from sexual offenses, the stories of some 74,000 school children failing to pay their lunch fees, children under three becoming entitled to enjoy free medical service and the government's cuts to the budget for children's welfare were selected as top stories.

The top 10 stories year were selected by social workers from the organization's 23 branches around Taiwan.