By Kim Bo-eun
Parents who have children will not be granted a divorce unless they take parental education on the prevention of child abuse, the Seoul Family Court said Sunday.
The court said it will make the education mandatory starting May as part of comprehensive measures to prevent child abuse following a series of cases involving divorced parents.
Many child abuses have occurred after remarriage by former spouses, including a recent case in which a seven-year-old boy was found dead after being abused by his stepmother and biological father.
"Data show over 40 percent of abused children were from a single-parent or remarried families," a court official said. "In the case of single-parent families, they experience greater financial difficulties and child-rearing burdens than families with two parents, and such pressure is often vented on their children."
The education will be compulsory for all couples filing for divorce, whether it is divorce by agreement or via a suit. The court will halt the divorce procedures if parents do not take the required course.
"The course will teach parents that abusive language and negligence is also a form of child abuse, along with physical violence," the official said.
Parents will also learn that abusing their children will risk their parental and custodial rights and they may be subject to criminal punishment.
They will also be told to check, even after divorce, whether the former spouse with custody rights abuses their children.
The court will make guidelines on the education soon and distribute them to other courts across the country by the latter half of the year.
The central government is also preparing measures to strengthen parental education for the same cause. Gender Equality and Family Minister Kang Eun-hee said earlier this month that the ministry would push for mandatory education for parents in an effort to correct parents' misconceptions about childcare.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government also said it would hold education sessions for parents sending their children to public daycare centers and introduce online courses for working couples.
In the meantime, a study Ewha Womans University's social welfare department showed the socio-economic costs of child abuse reaches up to 76 trillion won per year.
Based on data from a 2011 joint study by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and Sookmyung Women's University, the study said direct expenses of child abuse, which include costs of child protection services and adoption as well as hospital expenses for physical and psychological injuries, amount to 8 trillion won.
Secondary expenses, which arise in the later stages of the child's life, such as medical expenses for physical and mental illnesses arising from abuse, special education costs, costs of crime, decline in productivity and unemployment, were estimated at 68 trillion won.
자녀를 둔 서울 시민은 아동학대 방지교육을 받지 않으면 이혼할 수 없게 된다.
계모 학대로 숨진 경기도 평택 신원영(7)군처럼 이혼·재혼 가정에서 아동학대가 재발하는 것을 막기 위해 법원이 마련한 대책이다.
헤어진 후에도 자녀 인권을 존중하고 보호하도록 이혼 허가권을 지닌 사법당국이 교육하는 만큼 아동학대 예방에 실질적 도움이 될 것으로 기대된다.
27일 법조계에 따르면 전국 최대 가사법원인 서울가정법원은 이혼하려는 부모를 대상으로 아동학대 예방교육을 5월부터 의무화한다.
이는 협의 이혼뿐 아니라 재판(소송) 이혼 부모에게도 적용된다. 부모가 교육을 받지 않으면 법원에서 이혼 절차 진행이 중단된다.
법원은 구타는 물론, 폭언과 방임 등 정서적 폭력도 아동학대라는 사실을 이혼 부모에게 가르칠 계획이다.
학대를 저지르면 친권·양육권에 악영향을 미치거나 형사처벌을 받는다는 점도 교육한다.
신원영군 사건을 참작해 양육권이 상대 배우자에게 있어도 자녀 학대 여부를 지속해서 살펴야 한다는 내용도 교육에 포함한다.
이번 조처는 학대받는 아동 10명 중 4명(40.4%·2014년)이 한부모 가정·재혼 가정 자녀라는 현실을 고려해서 마련됐다.
한부모 가정은 경제난과 양육 부담 탓에 자녀를 학대하는 사례가 재혼 가정보다 더 많다.
법원은 이혼사유에 부부폭력이 포함되면 자녀의 학대 여부를 추가로 파악해 이혼 과정에 직권 개입하는 방안도 검토 중이다.
이 방안이 시행되면 폭력을 행사한 배우자에게 친권·양육권이 돌아가는 상황에서 법원이 조사를 벌여 그 결과를 뒤집을 수 있게 된다.
서울가정법원은 대법원 산하 연구단체 '부모교육연구회'와 함께 아동학대 예방교육 내용을 정하고 관련 지침서를 만들어 다른 법원에 보급하기로 했다.
성과가 좋으면 전국 모든 법원이 올 하반기부터 이 제도를 도입하도록 적극적으로 권고할 방침이다. (연합뉴스)
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