Lawmakers seek tougher rules to protect children
Print Edition
CHINESE lawmakers yesterday demanded harsher legislation and more active government intervention to protect minors, especially rural children left behind by migrant worker parents.
They discussed a report about the protection of minors at the ongoing bi-monthly legislative session. Lawmaker Cong Bin said that he was shocked at the situation of rural children.
Many rural residents have left their hometowns to work in cities. Without proper residence permits and due to financial problems, they are not able to bring their children with them and must leave them behind in the care of grandparents or other relatives.
The absence of parents has been one of the reasons for an increasing number of sexual assaults, abuse and abduction cases involving minors in rural areas, Cong said.
Prosecutors in central China’s Henan Province said that more than 60 percent of attacks on juveniles in the province target “left-behind” children.
Cong suggested the country create preferential policies to attract rural residents back to their hometowns and relocate labor-intensive industries to populous but less developed regions.
More government spending is needed in improving infrastructure and introducing good teachers to rural schools, he said, adding that more money should go to village schools so children do not need to walk long distances to townships.
About 55,000 minors die in accidents each year, with drowning and traffic accidents the biggest causes.
Jia Chunmei, a prosecutor from north China’s Hebei Province, suggested revisions to the law on child abuse.
“The crime of abuse in the current Criminal Law only covers the abuse of family members. If a person abuses a child who is not related to him or her — for instance, a school or nursery teacher abusing a student — he or she might not be subject to criminal penalty,” Jia said.
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