Suspicion has increased that abuse was repeated on a daily basis. Why couldn't the people around recognize something unusual much earlier and intervene?
In connection with the incident in which Mia Kurihara, a fourth-grader at an elementary school in Noda, Chiba Prefecture, died in late January and her parents are under arrest on suspicion of inflicting injury on her, the father has been arrested again. He is suspected to have unleashed violence on his daughter at home during the New Year holidays as well, causing her to suffer such injuries as a fractured breastbone.
He allegedly banged her face onto the floor and knelt on her after she had collapsed. If the allegations are true, the acts of violence are too cruel.
Videos recording a portion of these abusive acts have also been seized by police. The father asserted in initial interrogations that these acts were for the sake of "discipline," a claim that is not acceptable at all.
The mother said that she had recognized the father's violence but "couldn't stop him although I wanted to." She added she had left the situation unaddressed for fear that his violence would otherwise be directed at her.
This indicates that the father took the reins of the family through violence. Mia was not protected by her mother and could not ask for help from outside, either. How much fear and despair did she feel?
What psychological condition was the mother put into? More detailed elucidation of the truth will be called for in future investigations.
The Chiba prefectural government's Kashiwa Child Consultation Center recognized the father's suspected violence against the mother. Domestic violence committed in front of a child is itself child abuse. There is no denying that the center's assessment of risks was optimistic.
Workable measures vital
Mishandling of the child abuse has been revealed in other organizations concerned, too.
The Noda Board of Education, yielding to the father's intimidation, handed him answers to a questionnaire in which Mia complained about being abused by him.
After Mia was released from temporary protection, the child consultation center was shown a letter in which she denied the father's alleged violence. Despite doubting the authenticity of the letter, the center decided to return her from a relative's house to the parents' home. Although it was later found that she had been forced to write the letter, the center failed to make home visits and left the handling of the matter in the hands of the school she attended.
The school, for its part, did not regard as serious her long absence from the school following a winter break. These are both serious misjudgments.
These organizations concerned lacked a sense of urgency and responsibility while mutual cooperation among them is also deficient. The Noda case fits a pattern also seen in an incident last year in which a 5-year-old girl died after being abused.
The government has unveiled a package of emergency measures, including moving up a plan to increase the number of child welfare officers. The important thing is to improve the capabilities of child consultation centers to deal with various situations.
Officials of child consultation centers, in many cases, are replaced every several years in personnel reshuffling by local governments. To enhance their expertise as child welfare officers, it is necessary to reexamine personnel recruitment methods and ways of fostering them. It is also essential to reinforce a safety network in cooperation with police and by expanding the assignment of lawyers and other personnel.
To protect the lives of children, workable measures are called for.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Feb. 16, 2019)
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