[In Focus] Human Rights of Children with Disabilities Left in the Blind Spot

Attorney Seonhee Eom (Source: Duroo Corporation website)

Last year, the government announced the 'Inclusive Nation Child Policy' with the intention of expanding national responsibility so that children can enjoy happiness both now and in the future. The policy defined children's rights into four major areas: the right to protection, human rights and participation rights, the right to health, and the right to play, encompassing ten core tasks and detailed contents. Various ministries closely related to children, including the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, and Ministry of Justice, jointly proposed diverse policies; however, regrettably, the only content considering children with disabilities was related to medical accessibility.

Children with disabilities require more meticulous legal and institutional protection and support, considering the dual characteristics of 'disability' and 'childhood,' but they have instead been doubly discriminated against and marginalized due to these characteristics. Disability policies are centered on adults with disabilities, while child and education policies focus on non-disabled children, often leaving children with disabilities in blind spots within welfare, child, and education policies. The damage caused by abuse and neglect is also severe; abuse or neglect of children with disabilities is often difficult to report because the children have trouble expressing the harm verbally. According to the special school child abuse prevention education materials from the Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education, children with disabilities are twice as likely to be victims of abuse or neglect compared to non-disabled children, and many cases go unreported, meaning the actual number of victims may be much higher than reported.

Even in schools, the safest places for children to receive education, children with disabilities are exposed to or neglected in cases of violence and abuse. Between 2018 and 2019, several special schools experienced incidents where teachers and social service agents assaulted or neglected students with developmental disabilities. I served as the victim's representative in a criminal lawsuit related to a widely reported case in October 2018. The case involved social service agents assigned to a special private school to support students with intellectual disabilities who habitually assaulted disabled students on campus, with teachers neglecting to intervene. In videos leaked to the media, social service agents were seen repeatedly striking the heads and shoulders of disabled students with their fists and locking students inside cabinets. Trials for violations of the Child Welfare Act and the Welfare of Persons with Disabilities Act proceeded against the social service agents and teachers, resulting in suspended sentences for the social service agents and acquittal for the teacher in the first trial.

The outcome was difficult for parents of disabled students to accept. Particularly, the acquittal of the teacher who, specialized in special education, was found not guilty despite educational neglect during class by allowing social service agents to repeatedly and routinely take disabled students to the social service agents’ office raised questions about whether the risks and issues of abuse and educational neglect of disabled students were sufficiently considered.

Unfortunately, aside from the school being converted to a public institution, neither the school nor the teacher bore any responsibility in this case. Efforts by educational authorities to improve the current situation of special schools, where quality education and safe care are difficult due to shortages of special education teachers and special education instructors, remain insufficient. The 'Special Education Act for Persons with Disabilities, etc.' mandates the placement of special education support personnel in special schools. However, metropolitan and provincial offices of education still fill the shortage of support personnel with social service agents who lack expertise and experience rather than special education instructors. In this situation, the harm to disabled students and their parents continues.

The special school abuse case mentioned above is scheduled for an appeal trial. I conclude by sharing part of a petition written by the mother of the victim student and submitted to the court during the first trial.

"Your Honor, please do not view this case simply as the deviant behavior of young social service agents. It is a pain created by prejudice against persons with disabilities, social conventions, and improper educational perspectives all combined."

Seonhee Eom, Attorney at Law, Duru Corporation (Child and Youth Human Rights Field)