THỪA THIÊN-HUẾ — A total of 1,547 child abuse cases were reported nationwide last year, with majority child sexual abuse, according to a report by the Ministry of Public Security.

The report released during a workshop held in the central province of Thừa Thiên-Huế yesterday said 82 per cent of the total child abuse crimes were child sexual abuse, harming 1,141 children.

Despite the percentage having decreased from previous years, the ministry’s Criminal Department warned police, families, agencies and the whole society to be on high alert for this type of crime as it believed the actual figure was higher than reported cases, according to Lieut Con Phạm Mai Hiên.

The percentage in 2018 was 2.8 per cent lower than in 2017,and the decrease in 2017 compared to 2016 was 3 per cent, the report said.

The ministry is calling for co-operation from other ministries and agencies in the work to better protect children.

Following the workshop, the ministry is to work with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to train police in the central region on investigation skills needed to tackle these crimes.

Since 2015, the UNODC has assisted Việt Nam in the improvement of local criminal laws. The office also offers programmes to train Vietnamese police and legislation staff in preventing and dealing with child sex abuse criminals in the travel and tourism sector.

The Wednesday workshop was run by the ministry and the office, aiming to enhance the awareness of crimes against children of almost 100 police personnel. — VNS