Gwangju Child Abuse Detection Rate 'Lowest Nationwide'... Neglect of Victimized Children

Gwangju City Councilor Lee Myung-no "Urgent Need to Establish a Response System"

Lee Myung-no, Gwangju City Council member.

Concerns have been raised that the rate of detecting child abuse victims in the Gwangju area is among the lowest in the nation.

On the 7th, Lee Myung-no, a member of the Gwangju City Council (Democratic Party, Seo-gu 3), stated during the administrative audit of the Gwangju Women's and Family Bureau, “Although the number of reported child abuse cases in Gwangju is lower than the national average, the rate of discovering abused children is the lowest in the country, so we need to seek improvement measures.”

The rate of detecting child abuse victims in the Gwangju area was revealed to be the lowest nationwide. This is analyzed to be due to various reasons, such as tacit acceptance of child abuse or abused children being unable to seek help from those around them.

Last year, the child abuse detection rate in Gwangju was 2.13%, the lowest figure in the country. This indicates that even when child abuse occurs in Gwangju, it often goes unreported or, even if reported, is not recognized as child abuse.

There was also one death case caused by child abuse last year. In July 2023, a 7-month-old male infant was found dead in an apartment in Samgak-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju, and the infant’s mother, Ms. A in her 30s, left a suicide note and jumped from the sixth floor of their apartment. Police investigations revealed that Ms. A had suffered from severe postpartum depression and was recognized by the court as having diminished mental capacity, thus avoiding imprisonment.

Councilor Lee emphasized, “Gwangju City should increase dedicated personnel for child abuse cases and benchmark successful cases from other local governments to develop improvement measures to resolve child abuse issues. It is also necessary to improve public awareness and establish a joint response system.”

In response, Lee Young-dong, Director of the Gwangju Women's and Family Bureau, said, “We are making efforts to strengthen the child abuse prevention and response system by adding specialized child protection agencies and expanding dedicated child abuse officials. However, there are still many challenges to be addressed regarding child abuse issues in the region.”