Parents should teach their children about bodily autonomy and respect their wishes regarding personal space, Taiwan Fund for Children and Families goodwill ambassador Ruby Lin (林心如) said yesterday, after a poll showed that more than half of minors said they had been touched in a way that made them feel uncomfortable.
Lin made the remarks at an event to release the results of the poll, which found that 56 percent of minors aged nine to 17 had experienced uncomfortable physical contact.
Social works program supervisor Tsai Wen-chin (蔡雯瑾) said 63 percent said they had been touched on the buttocks, 58.4 percent said their private parts had been touched and 55.4 percent said their chest had been touched inappropriately.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
The group held the survey late last year, collecting 1,314 valid responses, Tsai said.
Among those who felt uncomfortable with such contact, 58.4 percent said they told their parents, while 22 percent said they kept it to themselves, the poll showed.
Among those who did not report the incidents, 43 percent said they did not consider them serious enough, while 42 percent said they did not want to complicate matters, Tsai said.
The poll also found that among those who reported such incidents to their parents or guardians, about 70 percent said they were not believed.
More than half said they were told they were overreacting, while 47.2 percent said they were criticized for their response.
Social worker Hsieh Ya-hsin (謝亞芯) said parents who refuse to believe their children risk causing secondary trauma and could discourage them from seeking help in the future.
Lin urged parents to listen carefully to their children, saying that some children might turn to the Internet for help — especially if the incidents involve people who are friends of their parents — which could expose them to further risks.
Parents should teach children from a young age that physical boundaries exist and that “areas covered by bikinis” should not be touched, she said, adding that they should respect their children’s wishes regarding physical contact.
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