Shen Boyang went to Huannan Market to sweep the streets in the morning. (Photo by reporter Tu Jianrong)
In an exclusive interview with "Foresight", Shen Boyang, Taipei mayoral candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party, said that the child abuse problem in Taipei seems to be getting more and more serious, and it may be the worst among the six cities. The host asked whether it is related to the region or the system. He admitted that he had no data and could only guess. During an interview at the South Airport Night Market yesterday (4th) evening, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wanan criticized the figures that Shen Boyang guessed were completely wrong. Municipal issues must be based on evidence and cannot be made out of thin air. "I can't accept it at all." Shen Boyang's campaign office countered that the issue of child abuse was not a matter of winning or losing by debating numbers. Jiang Wanan had no intention of solving it, so he replaced it with someone else.
Jiang Wanan’s campaign office spokesman Yang Peixi pointed out that according to statistics from the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s “Child and Juvenile Protection—Number and Causes of Deaths from Abuse by Parents, Caregivers and Other Family Members”, in the three years from 2012 to 2014, a total of 14 people died from domestic abuse in Kaohsiung City, with the highest number among the six cities, and 2 in Taipei City. Yang questioned that if there is no data, one should do their homework first. With such a serious issue of child safety, is it possible to rush to attack opponents and make parents uneasy without verification?
Cai Yikai, spokesman for Shen Boyang's campaign office, said that Shen Boyang talked about how to systematically prevent child abuse in the "Vision" interview, and asked the Chiang camp not to take the tragedy out of context and use the tragedy for political offense and defense. If you are unwilling to solve the problem of child abuse, find someone else to do it.
Cai Yikai pointed out that when the host asked about child abuse-related data, Shen Boyang frankly stated that it was impossible to directly judge the complete data that was not yet available. He also mentioned that a total of 13 1999 complaints were filed in the Xia Lisi case, but they could not be resolved in time. This is the real concern of Shen's team.
Cai Yikai said that in the face of child abuse loopholes, the administrative officer in charge of the bureau has still not taken responsibility. Is it because he is clinging to power or is it Mayor Chiang's indulgence? Mayor Jiang please answer directly and stop avoiding questions. Cai Yikai emphasized that Shen Boyang advocated launching an independent "Parent Edition 1999" help-seeking mechanism and establishing a clear complaint channel and follow-up tracking system to prevent children's help-seeking from being buried in other cases.
Shen Boyang's campaign office added that the Chiang Office quoted figures for "child abuse at home" and avoided talking about "child abuse outside the home" cases such as nannies and kindergartens. These children are also the children of Taipei citizens and must be taken seriously and seen. Behind every number is a child who is injured and needs to be protected. We call on Jiang Wanan’s camp to show their conscience and not say anything that ignores the pain of children for the sake of the election, let alone ignore the loopholes in the system.
Office Shen pointed out that there had been 8 major child abuse incidents, 115 known child victims, and 618 mistreatments during Chiang Kai-shek's tenure. Even the Social Affairs Bureau of the Taipei City Government has publicly stated that the case of child abuse and death by a nanny is a "case outside the home." The Jiang Office chose to compare the number of deaths caused by child abuse within the home, but did not discuss the loopholes of child abuse outside the home. How can it reassure the families of victims?
Shen Ban pointed out that the number of death cases caused by "child abuse at home" cannot explain the full picture of the child protection system, and no single number can be used to prove that the system has no loopholes. Using the child's tragedy to argue victory or defeat, is this Mayor Jiang's attitude towards child abuse?
Shen Ban emphasized that the issue of child abuse is not a debate about winning or losing based on numbers. If the numbers are won, children will not be safer. As the mayor of Taipei, what Chiang Wanan should answer most is how to catch every child, fill every loophole, and protect the safety of Taipei children.
