The term "child abuse" means that an adult, including a guardian, commits physical and psychological violence or severe acts that can harm the health or welfare of a child or interferes with normal development, and that a guardian of a child abandons or leaves a child alone. The definition of child abuse includes not only aggressive acts of assault but also passive simple corporal punishment and training. In other words, it provides for a broader range of activities that threaten the welfare of children and the provisional development of children, including not only physical abuse, but also emotional abuse and neglect, acts and environments that hinder child development, and the protection of children's rights. The children here are those under the age of eighteen.

There are four types of child abuse: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. Physical abuse refers to any act by an adult, including a guardian, that causes physical or physical injury to a child in a situation that is not an accidental accident. This includes not only acts done directly to the body, but also cases where the body is harmed by tools, physical strength, and foolish substances. Emotional abuse is the verbal insults, emotional threats, confinement and restraint, and other sadistic acts committed by adults, including parents, to children, also known as linguistic, mental, and psychological abuse. In particular, this is a common behavior in the past, and even now, it is a punishment of parents, which is the act of taking them naked and expelling them. Other acts include comparing, discriminating, and partiality with brothers and friends, bullying within the family, and making children witness domestic violence. Third, sexual abuse refers to all sexual acts committed by adults, including parents, against children under the age of 18 for their sexual satisfaction. It includes observing children for their sexual satisfaction, sexually exposing them, molesting them, engaging in similar acts, and having them engage in prostitution. Finally, the term "leaving a child alone" means the act of a guardian of a child in a dangerous environment or of failing to provide him with food, clothing, compulsory education, medical treatment, etc. and the term "abandonment" means the act of a guardian of a child throwing him away without protection. Examples of voluntary activities are divided into physical neglect, educational neglect, medical neglect, and abandonment. Physical neglect refers to the act of not submitting a birth certificate, educational neglect refers to the act of not sending a child to compulsory education, medical neglect refers to the act of not taking necessary medical measures for the child, and abandonment refers to the act of abandoning the child.

The number of reports of child abuse, the number of cases of child abuse, and deaths from child abuse are all on the rise. In some cases, acts that were not reported and that were not previously

▲ Child abuse status

recognized as child abuse have been reported and are increasing. However, since the first half of 2020, the number of reports in the second half of the year is about 30 percent higher than that of the first half, but the cause of this phenomenon is believed to be coronavirus. Experts believe that social distance has led to abuse as children spend more time at home. Also, it was analyzed that the economic difficulties caused by coronavirus led to family discord, and the number of families leaving their children unattended is increasing.

As time goes by, the number of child abuse increases, but the cruelty of child abuse has also become

▲ Child abuse probation rate

serious. Some say that the punishment for such child abuse is weak. A total of 532 cases were analyzed after searching for sentences that correspond to child abuse crimes between 1998 and May 2016, and 75 percent of the perpetrators were suspended or fined if the victim did not die. Only 25 percent were sentenced to prison. When a child spilled food in a kindergarten case, a nursery teacher hit him mercilessly on the head. The teacher picked up food thrown up on the floor by a shocked child and forced him to eat it, and the other child was forced to swallow hot porridge. He was trying to abuse three children in this way but was sentenced to a fine of 1.5 million won in the first trial for belated reflection. The district office is also running a new daycare center because it has not taken any administrative action against the director. Besides, 40 percent of teachers accused of child abuse were released due to suspension of prosecution, while only 20 percent were sentenced to imprisonment. Is the punishment for child abuse in foreign countries so light? 

The U.S. state of New Mexico enacted the "Baby Briana Act" to punish child abuse as first-degree murder and imprisonment for more than 30 years. In 2014, the UK enacted the Cinderella Act, which carries out up to ten years in prison for parents who commit emotional abuse that does not show affection for their children. According to the "Special Act on Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes," if a person who commits a child abuse crime causes the death of a child, he or she will be sentenced to life imprisonment or imprisonment for more than five years. In many countries, such as Japan, Germany, and the United States, corporal punishment for training can also be prosecuted. The Ministry of Justice announced that it would revise the Civil Code to prohibit corporal punishment of children, but South Korea still has the authority of corporal punishment by Article 915 of the Civil Code.

November 27, 2020

 By Park Hyoin