Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alicia Wang (王育敏) yesterday called on the government to pay more attention to children in families whose parents are drug addicts, as they are more likely to become the victims of abuse.
“Since 2005, there have been 217 major child abuse cases, in which 99 child victims died as a result,” Wang told a press conference at the legislature. “On average, 1.2 children die from abuse each month ... that’s a scary number.”
Of all major child abuse cases, 53 involved drug addicts, while 28 children died of drug-related abuse, she said.
“In other words, 28.3 percent, or one out of four children who died from abuse, were victims of drug addicts,” Wang said.
“Children in families where parents are drug addicts are three times more likely to become abuse victims,” Wang said, adding that children of drug users are not only at risk of being abused by their own parents, but also of being abused by their parents’ friends, who are often also drug addicts.
She said the government should put more effort into monitoring parents with a background of drug abuse and take better care of the children of drug-addicted parents once they are jailed.
Wang also suggested increasing the penalty for child abuse.
Child Welfare Bureau -director-general Chang Hsiu-yuan (張秀鴛) told the Taipei Times that the bureau was working with the Ministry of Justice to follow up on parents with a background of drug abuse or the children of drug users in prison.
“The problem is not whether we should have such a mechanism, because we already do. The -problem is that we’re suffering from a severe shortage of social workers in child protection,” Chang said.
In the US, each social worker carries 10 to 15 cases on average, while in Hong Kong, each takes care of about 15 children, she said.
“However, in Taiwan, social workers are seriously overloaded, with each having at least 50 to 60 cases at one time,” Chang said.
Because of the workload, Chang said the quality of care is “not so good” and that the attention paid to each case is insufficient.
“Actually, we do try to send more social workers to local governments, but we suspect that social workers may be appointed to do other jobs, but that’s another issue,” Chang said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to