Hong Kong to speed up work on bill covering failure to report suspected child abuse, leader John Lee says, after tragic murder case
- Hong Kong leader John Lee expresses concern and sadness over death of five-year-old boy found covered with bruises and abrasions in subdivided flat
- He says incident reflects urgent need to complete legislative work on mandatory reporting requirements for child abuse cases
Hong Kong’s leader has pledged to speed up work on a bill that will punish child care professionals who fail to report suspected abuse of a minor, after a woman was charged with the murder of her five-year-old son over the weekend.
A consultation paper released by the government on Tuesday offered new details about the proposed law, including how authorities intended to categorise abuse cases and the maximum penalty offenders would face, which was currently suggested as three months in jail and a HK$50,000 fine.
“To solve child abuse cases, we need interdisciplinary and cross-departmental collaboration,” he said ahead of his weekly meeting with his advisers in the Executive Council. “Appropriate training and guidelines are also needed, so people can understand the practice and their responsibilities.”
Secretary for Welfare and Labour Chris Sun Yuk-han chaired an online meeting in the morning to gather feedback from 200 stakeholders in the social welfare sector about amendments to the bill.
