Multiracial children more exposed to abuse

By Bae Ji-sook

Staff reporter

Children from interracial marriages are about three times more likely to be abused by parents and others, compared to those raised by Korean parents, a government report showed Friday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, there were 181 reported cases of child abuse in multicultural families in 2009. The total number of cases, including Korean families, totaled 5,685 last year.

"This means about 1.72 children per every 1,000 from multicultural families are exposed to such violence," a ministry official said. The rate is about three times higher than that of children born to Korean parents - 0.55 per 1,000.

More than half of the multiracial children were under 6 years old and 93.4 percent of the assaulters were their parents. "The language barrier causes troubles in communication. The lack of a social network to protect them worsens it," said Jang Hwa-jung, who is in charge of shelters for abused children.

Child abuse relates to activities by adults that are damaging to children's health and welfare. Physical or mental violence, sexual assaults, exploitation and abandonment all fall into this category.

Meanwhile, the welfare ministry's report showed that more children are experiencing abuse multiple times, being sent back to the shelter after returning to their parents, who had received a warning.

Out of the total 5,685, 10.2 percent, or 581 children, had been previously abused by their parents.

Most of them were abandoned at home while some were reported to have been verbally abused. While physical violence was showing signs of a decline from 8.5 percent in 2007 to 5.9 percent in 2009, mental abuse rose from 10.6 percent to 13.7 percent during the same period.

"More people have become aware of the state protection system and are willing to report abuse to authorities rather than endure it," Jang said.