RIGHTS-JAPAN: Rising Child Abuse Cases Jar Once-Caring Society

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, May 17 2002 (IPS) - Japanese society is known to cherish children so much that since ancient times, it has been setting aside at least one day in the year in celebration of the youngsters in its midst.

But social workers and human rights activists now say child abuse is on the rise, forcing the government to come up with a new law giving authorities power to take children away from their violent parents and pointing to society changes in Japanese society as being a protective one of youngsters.

Several state agencies have also drawn up new measures to combat child abuse, including the Ministry of Health and Welfare, whose official baby-care books now contain warnings to mothers against shaking their babies.

Even the National Police Agency (NPA) has stepped in with a child abuse awareness campaign, as well as new manuals for police to watch out for signs of an abused child, such as perennial wounds and bruises, aggressive behaviour, and wearing clothes unsuitable for the season.

All these are coming at the heels of surveys conducted by welfare centres that reveal more than 17,700 cases of child abuse — physical, psychological, sexual, and those involving neglect – were reported in fiscal year 2000, or 16 times more than the comparative figure a decade ago.

The NPA itself says that in the same year, 56 children even died as a result of assault and negligence by their parents or guardians. This shows an increase from 1999, when 43 child deaths from abuse were reported.

The police say that last year, they also sent 216 cases of child abuse by parents and guardians to the prosecutors.

This included the case of a three-year-old boy who died in November after suffering constant abuse from his stepfamily, which included not only his stepmother, but also his step-grandparents and step-great-grandfather.

“In Japan, parents, especially, the mother, devote themselves to their children,” says Midori Sekiyama, a welfare officer with the Shibuya ward office, in central Tokyo. “But recent reports have changed this picture drastically.”

To be sure, child abuse is not a new phenomenon in Japan. Indeed, Yoko Tatsuno, spokesperson of the nongovernment Stop Child Abuse Network, notes, “(The) recent rise in awareness is the result of Western thinking, which respects the rights of children and thus sees violence as a form of abuse.”

Social workers, however, say indications are that the problem is getting rapidly worse, even as they fear that the bulk of the cases remain hidden because of social taboos and the high premium the Japanese place on privacy, especially on matters concerning the family.

They also point out that abused Japanese children — like their counterparts elsewhere — often feel they had done something to deserve the abuse or fear they would lose the love of the non-abusive parent if they recounted their ordeal to anyone.

One letter written by a young woman to the ‘Yomiuri Shinbun’, Japan’s largest daily, says that for years she did not dare tell anyone for years that her father was sexually abusing her “because I did not want to upset my mother”.

Yet despite such reticence, child abuse cases are nevertheless apparently overwhelming the country’s state agencies.

Activists even report that the number of juvenile welfare commissioners has not kept up with the rise in cases, resulting in a serious shortage of manpower. In truth, the police say that last year, 11 children died from abuse despite been referred to consultation offices.

Activists point to the need to bring child abuse out to the open and make people realise that it comes its many forms so that the situation does not become even more tragic.

“The current system can no longer handle child abuse,” says Fumihiro Sobue, head of the civic group Child Abuse Prevention Network-Aichi. “The administration should not, be wholly responsible for children’s lives. Let’s make citizens blow ‘social winds’ to families closing their doors.”

As efforts against child abuse intensify, some activists say they have noticed that mothers, more than the fathers, seem to have become more violent toward their children in recent years.

According to these activists, this may be a manifestation of the frustration and resentment felt by Japanese housewives who are forced to sacrifice everything else so that they can raise well-behaved, high-achieving children with little help from their husbands.

“A good mother is judged by her ability to get her children to prestigious schools and her ability to devote her whole life to the kids,” says Tatsuno. “This puts a lot of pressure on young women who want the fathers to share the role of rearing kids.”

Tatsuno, whose group provides telephone counseling and rehabilitation for violent parents, says that their clients are mostly mothers.

Japanese mothers say they hit their children because they are themselves victims of abuse, or are lonely and have no support from their husbands or even just their neighbours, she recounts.

In fact, just this month, a mother who burned her daughter told child consultation employees that she had felt isolated from the local community.

This is why Tatsuno believes that “harsh laws and penalties will not prevent abuse — only constant support and understanding for parents”.

Meanwhile, private child centres and facilities across Japan have followed the lead of state agencies, starting programmes on child-rearing, counselling. Shelves in bookstores are now also packed with a variety of new titles on the childcare, as well as child abuse.

But Tatsuno is especially glad that the education ministry in March urged companies to reduce working hours so fathers can be more involved in child rearing.

“Japan is taking the first steps to tackle the issue which is admitting

the problem exits and raising awareness,” she says. “The next step is offering improved care to make Japan a truly safe place for children.”