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The past few months have seen a string of unrelated violent crimes against children making headlines in China， with the most recent victim having his eyes gouged out.
Guo Bin， 6， was playing outside his own home in Linfen City， north China’s Shanxi Province， on the afternoon of August 24 when the person who would turn out to be his attacker approached him. After his parents became concerned over Guo’s absence at dinner time they began to look for him， finally finding after searching for five hours.
It was not until September 3 that local police announced that Zhang Huiying， the wife of an uncle on Guo’s father’s side of the family， was the sole suspect. Traces of the boy’s blood were recovered from her clothes. Zhang， 41， committed suicide by drowning herself on August 30.
The two families had been involved in a dispute over the care of Guo’s bed-ridden grandfather.
Guo’s parents， who are from a rural village and earn a living by running a small mahjong club， told Xinhua News Agency that their son was very excited about going to school and starting the first grade in September. He had his new school bag， pencils and notebooks ready and he looked forward to meeting his new classmates.
After the attack， the boy was rushed to an eye hospital in Taiyuan， capital city of Shanxi， on the same night. Yang Caizhen， a spokeswoman for the hospital， said on August 27 that Guo’s condition after surgery was stable， but he would be permanently blind.
“Our son asks us why the sky is always dark and why the dawn still hasn’t come every time he wakes up，” Guo’s mother said at the hospital on August 27. The mother had to lie to him that although his eyes were injured， they would only need to be bandaged temporarily.
“It is so difficult to explain to him，” she said. “It is the most heartbreaking thing.”
The hospital deducted part of the treatment expenses for Guo and donations of money and gifts for him have been flooding to Guo’s family after media reports of the incident went national and inspired the charity of people across the country.
Another recent incident causing widespread shock and sympathy took place on July 23.
At approximately 9 p.m. that day， Han Lei， 39， who had previously been imprisoned for theft， got into a dispute with a mother near a bus stop in Beijing’s Daxing District. The mother had refused to give up space for Han to park his car， and in response he lifted up the child， who was asleep in her stroller at the time， and then raised the child above his head and slammed her to the ground violently before driving off with his friends. Virtually brain dead， the toddler struggled in the intensive care unit for two days before passing away. Han was later tracked down and arrested. The child was 2 years and 10 months old.
Preventive measures
Legal experts say that root cause of these extreme cases is a negative atmosphere in society. Children are easy targets for adults to vent their anger or frustration upon， as they are vulnerable and unable to protect themselves.
“Eradicating sentiments of hatred toward society requires all members of society to restrain their behavior and reduce their anxieties，”said Zhang Yuming， a professor at the Shanxi Provincial Academy of Social Sciences. He said that it is the responsibility of the government and non-governmental organizations to monitor people prone to outbursts and provide them with regular consultations to help them avoid lashing out through extreme behavior.
“Raising the punishment for those caus-ing harm to minors could have the effect of deterring potential criminals and thus better protecting children，” said Ma Yunyue， a senior policy research fellow with the Shanxi Provincial Higher People’s Court.
Some others point out that parental negligence， a lack of awareness among children and flawed safety networks are also at fault for frequent criminal cases involving children.
The number of children left at home unattended in Chinese cities is large due to the fact many households have two working parents who cannot afford to stay at home to look after their children， and also lack access to services providing child care. This increases the odds of the happening of serious accidents. On the evening of June 30， two girls aged 5 and 7， fell to their deaths from the window of a 13th-floor apartment in Shanghai when their parents， who run a restaurant， left them at home without supervision.
In rural areas， a large number of children are left behind when their parents seek jobs in cities and entrust the grandparents with their care. Usually， the grandparents， who struggle to feed and clothe the children， have neither the knowledge nor awareness to educate children how to avoid dangerous situations.
Han Jingjing， a lawyer with the Beijing Youth Legal Aid and Research Center， said that some parents， particularly migrant workers in cities， are too busy to properly protect their children.
“In some cases， parents let their children go to nearby shops or take elevators alone， which provided the opportunity for criminals，” she said.
Hu Yueyue， a research fellow at the Ocean University of China in Qingdao， Shandong Province， said that in most crimes involving child victims， their adult guardians deserve some of the blame for not doing enough to protect the children in their care. “However， due to a lack of legal stipulations， these adults are not held accountable for their actions，” he said. Hu called for legislation specifying legal liabilities of guardians toward minors， adding “the greater the responsibilities that guardians take， the safer the children will be.”
China adopted the Law on the Protection of Minors in 1991. It was revised in 2006 in response to widespread public complaints about students’ academic burdens and the irresponsible management of Internet cafes.
Tong Lihua， Director of the Special Committee for Child Protection under the All China Lawyers Association， who participated in the revision of the law， said that the amendment failed to address the issue of lacking concrete rules on which parties should be held responsible for what in criminal cases involving children.
Tong suggested that instead of generally holding families， schools， the government， nongovernmental organizations and the judicial system responsible for ensuring a safe environment for children， laws should specify the responsibilities of each party respectively.
Educating children
In recent years， there has been a rise in sexual abuse cases involving children in China. For example， the Chaoyang District People’s Court in Beijing handled three such cases in 2007 and an average of nine cases per year between 2008 and 2012. Prosecutors in Beijing’s Fengtai District brought 28 cases of sexual abuse against minors to court between 2009 and 2011， involving 42 victims， most of whom were aged between 10 and 13.
According to a survey conducted by the Beijing Youth Legal Aid and Research Center in 2008， 70 percent of victims in child sexual abuse cases know abusers， such as neighbors， family friends or stepfathers. Since most assailants are not strangers to targeted children， many cases involved repeated abuse over an extended period of time， said Chen Zuying， a senior prosecutor in Chongqing.
In China， most parents feel embarrassed talking about sex with their children and fail to provide sex education to their children. As a result， after being abused， some children may not even realize they have been molested besides feeling uncomfortable.
Parents should teach children from a young age what their private parts are and the need to protect them from being seen or touched by others， said Lu Ye， a senior prosecutor in Beijing.
Monica Cui， China Chief Representative and Executive Director of Safe Kids Worldwide， a global nonprofit organization， said that although the Chinese primary and middle school curriculum includes content on self-awareness and how to protect oneself from becoming danger， children are often bored and don’t pay attention as they are simply given warnings and instructions in classes.
“Teachers need to introduce more vivid teaching methods and use experiences from their daily life to intrigue students， for example， asking them to draw a roadmap from home to school and identify all the possible dangers on the way and teaching them how to deal with them，” Cui said.
Guo Bin， 6， was playing outside his own home in Linfen City， north China’s Shanxi Province， on the afternoon of August 24 when the person who would turn out to be his attacker approached him. After his parents became concerned over Guo’s absence at dinner time they began to look for him， finally finding after searching for five hours.
It was not until September 3 that local police announced that Zhang Huiying， the wife of an uncle on Guo’s father’s side of the family， was the sole suspect. Traces of the boy’s blood were recovered from her clothes. Zhang， 41， committed suicide by drowning herself on August 30.
The two families had been involved in a dispute over the care of Guo’s bed-ridden grandfather.
Guo’s parents， who are from a rural village and earn a living by running a small mahjong club， told Xinhua News Agency that their son was very excited about going to school and starting the first grade in September. He had his new school bag， pencils and notebooks ready and he looked forward to meeting his new classmates.
After the attack， the boy was rushed to an eye hospital in Taiyuan， capital city of Shanxi， on the same night. Yang Caizhen， a spokeswoman for the hospital， said on August 27 that Guo’s condition after surgery was stable， but he would be permanently blind.
“Our son asks us why the sky is always dark and why the dawn still hasn’t come every time he wakes up，” Guo’s mother said at the hospital on August 27. The mother had to lie to him that although his eyes were injured， they would only need to be bandaged temporarily.
“It is so difficult to explain to him，” she said. “It is the most heartbreaking thing.”
The hospital deducted part of the treatment expenses for Guo and donations of money and gifts for him have been flooding to Guo’s family after media reports of the incident went national and inspired the charity of people across the country.
Another recent incident causing widespread shock and sympathy took place on July 23.
At approximately 9 p.m. that day， Han Lei， 39， who had previously been imprisoned for theft， got into a dispute with a mother near a bus stop in Beijing’s Daxing District. The mother had refused to give up space for Han to park his car， and in response he lifted up the child， who was asleep in her stroller at the time， and then raised the child above his head and slammed her to the ground violently before driving off with his friends. Virtually brain dead， the toddler struggled in the intensive care unit for two days before passing away. Han was later tracked down and arrested. The child was 2 years and 10 months old.
Preventive measures
Legal experts say that root cause of these extreme cases is a negative atmosphere in society. Children are easy targets for adults to vent their anger or frustration upon， as they are vulnerable and unable to protect themselves.
“Eradicating sentiments of hatred toward society requires all members of society to restrain their behavior and reduce their anxieties，”said Zhang Yuming， a professor at the Shanxi Provincial Academy of Social Sciences. He said that it is the responsibility of the government and non-governmental organizations to monitor people prone to outbursts and provide them with regular consultations to help them avoid lashing out through extreme behavior.
“Raising the punishment for those caus-ing harm to minors could have the effect of deterring potential criminals and thus better protecting children，” said Ma Yunyue， a senior policy research fellow with the Shanxi Provincial Higher People’s Court.
Some others point out that parental negligence， a lack of awareness among children and flawed safety networks are also at fault for frequent criminal cases involving children.
The number of children left at home unattended in Chinese cities is large due to the fact many households have two working parents who cannot afford to stay at home to look after their children， and also lack access to services providing child care. This increases the odds of the happening of serious accidents. On the evening of June 30， two girls aged 5 and 7， fell to their deaths from the window of a 13th-floor apartment in Shanghai when their parents， who run a restaurant， left them at home without supervision.
In rural areas， a large number of children are left behind when their parents seek jobs in cities and entrust the grandparents with their care. Usually， the grandparents， who struggle to feed and clothe the children， have neither the knowledge nor awareness to educate children how to avoid dangerous situations.
Han Jingjing， a lawyer with the Beijing Youth Legal Aid and Research Center， said that some parents， particularly migrant workers in cities， are too busy to properly protect their children.
“In some cases， parents let their children go to nearby shops or take elevators alone， which provided the opportunity for criminals，” she said.
Hu Yueyue， a research fellow at the Ocean University of China in Qingdao， Shandong Province， said that in most crimes involving child victims， their adult guardians deserve some of the blame for not doing enough to protect the children in their care. “However， due to a lack of legal stipulations， these adults are not held accountable for their actions，” he said. Hu called for legislation specifying legal liabilities of guardians toward minors， adding “the greater the responsibilities that guardians take， the safer the children will be.”
China adopted the Law on the Protection of Minors in 1991. It was revised in 2006 in response to widespread public complaints about students’ academic burdens and the irresponsible management of Internet cafes.
Tong Lihua， Director of the Special Committee for Child Protection under the All China Lawyers Association， who participated in the revision of the law， said that the amendment failed to address the issue of lacking concrete rules on which parties should be held responsible for what in criminal cases involving children.
Tong suggested that instead of generally holding families， schools， the government， nongovernmental organizations and the judicial system responsible for ensuring a safe environment for children， laws should specify the responsibilities of each party respectively.
Educating children
In recent years， there has been a rise in sexual abuse cases involving children in China. For example， the Chaoyang District People’s Court in Beijing handled three such cases in 2007 and an average of nine cases per year between 2008 and 2012. Prosecutors in Beijing’s Fengtai District brought 28 cases of sexual abuse against minors to court between 2009 and 2011， involving 42 victims， most of whom were aged between 10 and 13.
According to a survey conducted by the Beijing Youth Legal Aid and Research Center in 2008， 70 percent of victims in child sexual abuse cases know abusers， such as neighbors， family friends or stepfathers. Since most assailants are not strangers to targeted children， many cases involved repeated abuse over an extended period of time， said Chen Zuying， a senior prosecutor in Chongqing.
In China， most parents feel embarrassed talking about sex with their children and fail to provide sex education to their children. As a result， after being abused， some children may not even realize they have been molested besides feeling uncomfortable.
Parents should teach children from a young age what their private parts are and the need to protect them from being seen or touched by others， said Lu Ye， a senior prosecutor in Beijing.
Monica Cui， China Chief Representative and Executive Director of Safe Kids Worldwide， a global nonprofit organization， said that although the Chinese primary and middle school curriculum includes content on self-awareness and how to protect oneself from becoming danger， children are often bored and don’t pay attention as they are simply given warnings and instructions in classes.
“Teachers need to introduce more vivid teaching methods and use experiences from their daily life to intrigue students， for example， asking them to draw a roadmap from home to school and identify all the possible dangers on the way and teaching them how to deal with them，” Cui said.