Suspected child abuse victims hit record 80,000 in Japan

February 7, 2019

Tokyo--The number of children referred by Japanese police to child consultation centers across the country as suspected victims of abuse hit a record high of 80,104 in 2018, up by 14,673, or 22.4 pct, from the preceding year, National Police Agency data showed Thursday.

The NPA data covered people aged up to 17.

Child abuse incidents continue to increase. The number of suspected cases in 2018 was up by about 13-fold from the level 10 years before.

"People's awareness of the problem of child abuse has increased on the back of promotion activities, leading to rises in the numbers of reports to and consultations with police," an NPA official said.

In 2018, the number of children suspected to have faced psychological abuse, such as suffering verbal assaults and being exposed to violence between their parents, stood at 57,326, accounting for 71.6 pct of the total.

Physical abuse was suspected for 14,821 children, or 18.5 pct, negligence or neglect for 7,699, or 9.6 pct, and sexual abuse for 258, or 0.3 pct.

Police took action on 1,355 child abuse cases, up by 217. Of the total, physical abuse cases, such as murders and injuries, accounted for 1,075, or 79.3 pct, sexual abuse cases for 223, or 16.5 pct, psychological abuse cases for 34, or 2.5 pct, and negligence and neglect for 23, or 1.7 pct.

"As child abuse incidents tend to be unnoticed, we'll continue to share information with child consultation centers and other related organizations in order to make it easier to decide whether each suspected case should be reported," the official said. Jiji Press