The number of cases related to child sexual abuse (XHTD) in the province tends to increase every year. Basically, when cases are discovered, they are strictly handled by the authorities and public opinion agrees. However, many cases of children being sexually abused have not been discovered and handled promptly. Sadly, the situation of victims agreeing and reconciling with the abuser still occurs, implicitly "assisting" the crime.
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| Mock trial organized by the Provincial People's Procuracy Youth Union in coordination with Dinh Hoa District Youth Union at Binh Yen High School during the legal dissemination session on preventing and combating sexual abuse (April 2023). |
Only the surface has been processed.
During the period of 2021-2022, the two-level People's Court of the province accepted 76 cases/83 defendants; tried 71 cases/77 defendants related to crimes of child abuse. The Provincial People's Court alone, during this period, accepted 19 cases/26 defendants for the crime of child sexual abuse.
According to assessments, sexual harassment cases are increasingly serious in nature and severity, causing public outrage and leaving many serious consequences for society.
A typical case occurred in January 2023 in Dinh Hoa district. LVH, born in 2005, a student at a high school, went to the house of MVT, born in 2007, in Trung Hoi commune (Dinh Hoa). Here, H. and T. discussed with each other, then gave alcohol to the two female friends, both born in 2007, to get drunk and have sex. On February 3, 2023, the Investigation Police Agency of Dinh Hoa District Police initiated a case and prosecuted LVH and MVT for the crime of "Raping a person under 16 years old". Surely, the subjects will receive appropriate sentences for the crimes they committed.
From the reality of investigation, prosecution, and trial, many officials in the province's prosecution agencies shared: Investigation and verification of cases of child abuse by family members, relatives... often encounter difficulties. Especially when criminal cases of sexual abuse against girls are often sensitive and complicated; many cases are only discovered after a long time, so biological evidence cannot be determined, and can only be based on the simple statements of the defendant and witnesses. In some cases, the victim is too young or the victim and the representative are absent from the trial, while the file still has some inconsistencies, the issue of civil liability is unclear, so the trial panel has to postpone the trial, affecting the progress and results of the case settlement.
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| Lawyer Pham Trung Kien, Director of PK Vietnam Law Firm: For child sexual abuse crimes, the victim's family and the community should not compromise but should bravely denounce and hold the subjects accountable before the law. Resolutely fighting against child sexual abuse is also an action to protect the rights and future of children. |
The state of agreement and reconciliation
As we analyzed in the previous article, most of the perpetrators of child sexual abuse are acquaintances, relatives, and friends of the victims. When an incident occurs, many families are afraid of losing their honor or affecting their children's future, so they do not provide information or report it to the authorities. Many families are aware that it is an illegal act but have not yet caused consequences, or have caused consequences but still do not report it because they are afraid of public gossip and affecting the children's psychology. Some families quietly "compromise" with the criminals by organizing a wedding for the young couple because their child accidentally got pregnant.
The case of NVC and CTL, born in 2003, in Thanh Cong commune (Pho Yen city) is such an example. C. and L. have known each other since 2018, fell in love and had sex leading to pregnancy. After that, the two children were married by their families but did not register their marriage. L. gave birth to a baby boy at Pho Yen Medical Center and registered the birth of the child but did not include the father's name.
Some time later, when L. and C. went to register their marriage at the People's Committee of Thanh Cong Commune and changed the content of their child's birth certificate, the specialized agency discovered the incident; it was transferred to the Investigation Police Department of Pho Yen City Police to handle according to regulations. What is blameworthy is that the family and neighbors knew that the above behavior was a violation of the law but did not stop it and still organized the wedding for the two children.
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| Reporter of Thai Nguyen Newspaper discussed with the leader of the Provincial People's Court (left) about the issue of child sexual abuse. |
Or the case of NTL, born in 2005 in Tuc Duyen ward (Thai Nguyen city). Due to family conflicts, L. left home for Hanoi when she was only 15 years old. While selling clothes, L. met a young man in Soc Son district, the two developed feelings for each other, had sex, and L. became pregnant.
When the incident was discovered, both families thought that “it was a done deal”, so they agreed to talk, so that the “groom’s side” could take L. to live with the family and have a child. When L. was 2 months old, she had just celebrated her 16th birthday, and being a mother was full of confusion and hardship. Now, when L. has just turned 18 and her daughter is almost 2 years old, the two families are discussing plans to organize a wedding ceremony for their children.
Silence is complicity in crime
In fact, there are many cases where children living in families where their parents work far away have become victims of sexual abuse by their own relatives, neighbors, and acquaintances... And many cases of child sexual abuse have been overlooked because families do not dare to report the crimes of their relatives. At the same time, due to inadequate awareness, many parents, especially in ethnic and mountainous areas, believe that their children's consensual sexual relations with a romantic partner are not a crime, and only when forced do they commit a crime, so they do not report it.
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| Lieutenant Nguyen Cong Minh, officer of the Team for Building the National Security Movement (Thai Nguyen City Police): In the process of propagating for students to proactively prevent abuse, we often cite specific cases, clearly point out behaviors and instruct on prevention skills. For example, the 5-finger rule to distinguish between relatives, acquaintances and strangers in communication, helping children limit the possibility of being sexually abused. |
Everyone has a responsibility to protect children from sexual abuse, in which the family plays the most important role. If their child is sexually abused, how should the victim's family handle the situation? Talking with many experts in the field of child care and protection, we found that the decision of relatives of sexually abused children not to speak up or report to the authorities not only loses the opportunity to report the crime, causing disadvantages to the victim, but also indirectly causes cases related to sexual abuse to continue to develop in a complicated manner.
The silence of those involved in some cases can also cause children to have distorted perceptions, even blaming themselves when bad things happen. Many families choose silence to regain peace, but it cannot erase the severe trauma to the victims.
The fact that families do not report the illegal acts of child sexual abusers indirectly “supports” the crime and leads to many consequences. In the face of child sexual abuse, each family, government, functional sector and community should be a reliable support to accompany children on their journey to fight for justice and speak out to denounce criminals.
(To be continued)
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