Mandatory reporting of child abuse by professionals passed into law

 

Sexual abuse of children ranks high in the number of cases reported each year

Hong Kong lawmakers have passed a new law requiring members of 25 professions, including doctors and teachers, to report suspected child abuse or be prosecuted and face a fine of up to $50,000 and a maximum jail term of three months.

The Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse Bill was passed by the Legislative Council after its second and third readings earlier today.

The bill was introduced last year following a sharp rise in the number of reported child abuse cases compared with 2022. For the entire 2023, the Social Welfare Department logged a total of 1,457 newly registered child protection cases, or those involving childred aged 18 and below, who were maltreated or were at risk of mistreatment. 

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Seventy-nine lawmakers voted in favour of the new law, with no opposing votes and one abstention.

“The passage of this legislation has marked an important step for us to expand our child protection net, as we will have more than 100,000 professionals working with us to protect our children,” Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun said.

Sun said the bill would come into effect 18 months after its publication in the Official Gazette.

He said the government would make use of the interim period to provide training to the affected medical and health care professionals who are required to make mandatory reporting under the law.

 “We're also at the same time putting in place additional facilities and homes to cater for the increasing cases of reporting. And also, we're going to step up our efforts in terms of promotion and publicity, and make sure that we all work together for the welfare and betterment of our children.”

Among those required to report suspected child abuse cases are social workers, child care workers or supervisors, superintendents of residential child care service units, teachers, wardens of boarding schools, nurses, doctors, dentists, dental hygienists, Chinese medicine practitioners, occupational therapists, medical laboratory technicians, radiographers, optometrists, pharmacists, midwives, chiropractors, speech therapists, audiologists, dietitians and clinical and educational psychologists.

Domestic workers are not included, but like any other member of the public who are privy to an abuse being committed, are enjoined to report any such cases to the Social Welfare Department by calling its hotline, 2343 2255, or the police.    

Among the acts or omissions constituting child abuse that should be reported are the following: 1) inflicting injury on the child by violent means; 2) forcing or enticing the child to take part in any sexual activity, (3) intimidating, terrifying or denigrating the child in a severe manner of repetitively such that the child’s psychological health is endangered or impaired, and (4) severely or repeatedly neglecting the child’s basic needs to the detriment of the child’s health and development

The penalty mechanism also applies to those who inhibit or obstruct the reporting process, or disclose the identity of the professionals who made reports.

During the Legco debate, legislator Michael Tien proposed raising the maximum sentence of violators from three months to one year, saying the current legislation has little deterrent effect.

However his fellow legislators warned  harsher penalty could lead to false or excessive reporting out of fear of breaching the law.

Sun agreed, saying the penalty level is at part with other mandatory reporting laws such as those in cases involving drug trafficking, terrorism and organized crime.

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