With cases of child abuse emerging one after another, the Kaohsiung City Social Affairs Bureau and the North Kaohsiung Family Service Center joined hands on the 23rd to hold the “Big Hands Holding Little Hands — Child Protection Parent-Child Hiking Fun” event at Chengcing Lake Scenic Area. Amid wind and rain, 1,200 parent-child pairs took part in a lakefront obstacle course game to show their support for child protection. The domestic violence experience zone was incredibly realistic, drawing screams from both adults and children, helping families better empathize with the impact of child abuse.
Recently, the death of a two-year-old child in Kaohsiung, allegedly due to abuse by the mother, deeply saddened those in the child protection field. Yesterday’s child protection awareness campaign resonated strongly. Chen, a parent with one child, said that although a two-year-old is just beginning to explore the world, they never get the chance to grow up — hearing the news was heartbreaking.
Wei Zongyin, director of the North Kaohsiung Family Service Center, pointed out that over the past 30 years, they have assisted in 2,586 cases of child abuse and found that most involved parents taking a child’s life through improper discipline. The abusers were mainly characterized by emotional instability and lack of parenting knowledge.
To address this, they designed a “Child Protection Fun Adventure Network,” setting up zones such as the domestic violence experience area, the child witness to domestic violence area, the child protection good neighbor area, as well as popular stations like board games and parent-child reading activities, aiming to help participants learn about child protection and reduce abuse through play.
Wei Zongyin said that according to data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, one in every four abused children is under the age of six — a notably high proportion. He called for more adults to proactively notice and care, and urged everyone to remember the slogan “Child protection is simple, just call 113,” to prevent such tragedies from happening again.