Almost 30 percent of 340 cases of sexual abuse involving children were done by abusers who had sexually assaulted more than one child, while 40 percent of abusers were teachers, according to a report released by an NGO on Wednesday, as reported by the Global Times.
Released by Girls' Protecting, an NGO launched to help raise awareness and need of self-protection among Chinese children, the report indicated that of the 340 cases of child sexual abuse reported by the media in 2015, 96 involved abusers who had abused no less than two children, with 14 of the cases involving abusers who had assaulted no less than 10 children.
The report also said that it is difficult to find out whether children have been sexually abused or assaulted, and these children would likely still be abused without the intervention of outsiders. It also added that abusers, if not stopped, are likely to attack more children.
In 70 percent of the 340 cases, the abusers were acquaintances of the victims, such as teachers, neighbors and family members. Seven of the cases involved abusers who met and befriended their victims over the Internet.
Political advisors have noted the need to incorporate sex education into the compulsory education curriculum. They have also called for the strengthening of social supervision of minors.
"The government should help families better guard their children. For example, the government could assist social organizations by providing nursing services and participating in temporary or long-term aid," said Zhang Xuemei, director of China Child, an NGO dedicated to the rights of teenagers.
Zhang also said that the government should use legal procedures to intervene with families who are discovered to have a history of sexual abuse.
The country's mandatory reporting system needs to be enhanced in order to encourage guardians to report abusers and to punish the ones that fail to fulfill their duty to report, added Zhang.
Wang Xingjuan, founder of Red Maple Women's Counseling Center, suggested the government implement harsher punishments for those who have been convicted of sexually abusing children.