Social Outrage Over Repeated Child Abuse... National Human Rights Commission Launches 'Child Rights Status Survey'

Protecting Children's Rights Amid COVID-19 Disaster
Exploring Prevention of Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents

National Human Rights Commission building. Photo by Human Rights Commission

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] Amid public outrage over child abuse cases such as the death of a 16-month-old adopted child in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul (known as the ‘Jeong-in case’), the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) is launching a survey on the actual conditions of child rights.

On the 16th, the NHRCK announced that it will undertake a research project titled ‘2021 Survey on the Promotion of Child Rights.’ This research project consists of two tasks: ▲a survey on the status of child rights protection during disaster situations such as COVID-19 ▲a survey on the prevention of sexual exploitation of children and adolescents and human rights-based relief measures.

Through this survey, the NHRCK plans to examine cases where child rights have been violated or children are in crisis due to irregular lifestyles, food deprivation, stress, and depression caused by the spread and prolongation of COVID-19, physical and mental health problems, abuse and neglect due to care gaps, and learning gaps. It will also analyze the impact of COVID-19 infection prevention response systems and policies by the government, local governments, and educational authorities on child rights, and prepare response systems to ensure child rights are protected in similar situations.

Furthermore, following the ‘Telegram Nth Room’ incident last year, which highlighted sexual exploitation of children and adolescents as a social issue, the NHRCK will conduct a survey to develop multifaceted countermeasures. The commission will identify the current status of sexual exploitation victims among children and adolescents, analyze the process of sexual exploitation occurring through various channels such as social networking services (SNS) like Telegram, webhard, and the dark web, and examine the characteristics of sexual exploitation victims. Based on this, it plans to prepare digital sexual exploitation prevention measures, human rights-based relief plans, and prevention guidebooks tailored to the perspectives of children and adolescents.