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Opinion | Five-year-old girl’s murder shows urgent need for Hong Kong to reform child protection laws
- Now is the time to act on multiple recommendations to pass laws requiring mandatory reporting for suspected cases of child abuse
- Child protection must be prioritised, which means the enactment of a comprehensive reform package by the end of the year
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Good can sometimes result from even the vilest of crimes. After the murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin in the United States in 2020, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Bill was introduced into the US House of Representatives in 2021.
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It seeks to combat police misconduct, excessive force and racial bias in policing, and it is an appropriate response to a crime that shocked the world.
Following the convictions of a Hong Kong couple for murdering their five-year-old daughter in 2018, it is now incumbent on the authorities to also act decisively.
The victim, who died of septicaemia, sustained 133 injuries while her eight-year-old brother experienced 128 injuries. They both suffered horrific ill-treatment and neglect across many months, although this was preventable.
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‘We’re able to breathe again’, say George Floyd supporters as Derek Chauvin found guilty of murder
‘We’re able to breathe again’, say George Floyd supporters as Derek Chauvin found guilty of murder
Comprehensive measures in four key areas are urgently needed to minimise the chances of any other child ever experiencing a similar ordeal, and many children are at risk. The Social Welfare Department received reports of 1,064 child abuse cases in 2018, an increase of about 20 per cent over the 2008 figure of 882, and any of these could also have ended in tragedy.
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