The number of serious child abuse death cases in Kaohsiung is the highest among other cities. Kaohsiung City Government: Continue to improve the protection of children and adolescents

The Kaohsiung City Government said today that statistics on major child abuse cases in the past five years show that the cumulative number of deaths in Kaohsiung is not the highest among the six cities. Cases are also concentrated in specific years, and the number is 0 to 1 in other years. The city government emphasizes that it will improve the child protection mechanism and calls on the outside world not to distort the facts with one-sided data, let alone replace the system review with numerical arguments.

The city government stated that according to statistics from the Ministry of Health and Welfare from 2010 to 2014, New Taipei City had the largest number of children and juvenile protection services among the six cities, followed by Taichung City second and Kaohsiung City third. In addition, the cumulative number of deaths from severe child abuse in the past five years was 18 in Taichung City, 17 in New Taipei City, and 15 in Kaohsiung City.

The city government clarified that Kaohsiung did not have the highest number of cases among the six cities. 12 of them were concentrated in 113 years, and there was no more than one person in each of the remaining four years. The Social Affairs Bureau called on the outside world to use correct statistics to clarify different indicators and the nature of the cases, and not to confuse the data or use it out of context to mislead the public.

The Social Affairs Bureau stated that major child protection cases include suicide, abandonment after birth, and improper treatment. Not all of them are deaths caused by physical violence.

In 2013, 12 people were originally listed in 10 cases, of which 1 person in 1 case was confirmed to have died due to illness by the District Attorney's Office; among the 11 people in the remaining 9 cases, there were 2 cases of homicide and suicide, and 3 cases of death due to abandonment or improper care by the mother after birth. The causes and risk factors of each case are different, and arbitrary comparisons should not be made to avoid distorting the facts and causing secondary harm to the children, family members and front-line social workers.

The Social Affairs Bureau emphasized that every case of child abuse must be faced seriously, and the city government continues to review the gaps in the system and promote the shift from passive reporting to proactive prevention in child protection; it has established a communication platform for prosecutors, police, medical institutions, and integrated cross-network resources; it has combined high-risk maternal programs, dedicated pediatricians, and four major medical centers to proactively conduct outreach; it pioneered real-time medical interpretation of child abuse injuries and was promoted nationwide by the central government; it promoted the "Physical, Physical, and Safety Assessment Plan for Children Under 6 Years Old" to strengthen risk and placement assessments.

At the same time, the frequency of high-risk home visits has been increased to once a month; for high-risk children under the age of 6 who are not in care or attending school, police-government cooperation will be initiated if they refuse to visit or lose contact once; within 2 weeks after a major child abuse incident is confirmed, the government-level supervisor will preside over an inter-bureau review to truly track improvements.