Many people say they feel “not very safe” or “very unsafe” about Taiwan’s childcare environment, a survey released yesterday by the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families (TFCF) showed.
In the online survey, which collected 1,693 responses from Nov. 29 to Wednesday last week, 12 percent of respondents said they feel “very unsafe” about the childcare environment, 64 percent said “not very safe,” 23 percent “a bit safe” and 1 percent “very safe.”
The survey found that 12 percent of respondents believe that child abuse in Taiwan is “very serious,” 45 percent believe it is “a bit serious,” 2 percent said it is “not serious” and 41 percent feel that it is “gradually improving.”
The survey also asked respondents to rate on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the most safe, how safe they believe Taiwan is for children, TFCF said.
Most respondents (25.3 percent) gave a score of 6, followed by 21.9 percent who gave a score of 5 and 19.8 percent who gave a score of 7.
Respondents were told that a score of 6 or higher was considered a passing score, TFCF said.
Asked what they would do first if they witnessed a possible case of child abuse, 92 percent of respondents said they would call the 113 or 110 hotlines, 4.5 percent said they would write about it on social media and 1.1 percent said they would not report the situation.
Questionnaires for the survey, conducted in partnership with e-commerce Web site Mamilove, were distributed through the Facebook pages of Mamilove and TFCF, as well as through TFCF’s e-mail list, the non-governmental organization said.
The group analyzed media reports from January through last month as part of its annual review of major child protection stories — including reports of neglect, abandonment, physical abuse, sexual abuse, policy discussion and other issues — and found 277 child protection-related stories, including the deaths of 69 children, it said.
News reports represent just a “small number” of cases of child abuse, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital child psychiatrist Sophie Liang (梁歆宜) said.
Unexplained injuries, changes in behavior and daytime wetting are some signs that could indicate that a child is under stress, she said.
Although posting an incident online might draw attention, people should report abuse through official channels, TFCF said.
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