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Child Abuse

Child abuse is defined as any behaviours that do harm to the physical and psychological development of a child. Child abuse can occur between children and their parents or other guardians.

Factors contributing to child abuse

The factors contributing to child abuse include:

Child factor - If a child has physical, mental or behavioral problems, he/she will be more likely to get abused
Family factor - Child abuse is more common in families of relatively low socio-economic status or families of single parent or divorced parents. If parents were brought up in an abusive family, they will be more likely to resort to violence towards their child;
Social factor -The view on physical punishment in a society, the emphasis placed on children in a society and the mass media's promulgation on violence cases will all affect the frequency of child abuse.
Immediate factor -The direct causes of child abuse commonly include: Children's crying and howling, bad performance in children's school results, family's financial and marriage crisis etc.

Am I an abusive parent?

To check if you are an abusive parent, please recall if you had behaved in any of the following ways towards your child in the past:

Deliberately frightened or isolated your child
Yes No
Paid no attention to your child's emotion
Yes No
Negligent in providing enough food, clothes, medical care or education to your child
Yes No
Forced your child to perform a task which is inappropriate to his/her physical capacity or age.

Yes No
Do violence to your child (e.g. hitting with fist, slapping)
Yes No
Hurt your child with weapons (e.g. knife, whip)
Yes No
Induced your child to engage in sexual intercourse by violence, coaxing, blandishment, material temptation or other forms of inducement.
Yes No

If you answer "Yes" to any of the above questions, you may have already abused your child in different ways.

Tips on preventing child abuse

Maintain a good relationship with family members. Avoid taking your child as the object of venting your anger while you are in conflict with your family members.
If you have expected too much from your child, make a proper adjustment so as to relieve any unnecessary pressure.
Develop affection between father and child by playing a game with your child in a relaxing atmosphere.
When you are emotionally unstable, find other people to help taking care of your child.
When you need to assign someone to take care of your child, you must be familiar with that person's background. You should never assign a stranger to take care of your child.
Fathers should teach their children the correct sexual knowledge and tell them how to protect their bodies.

Ways of coping with child abuse

Child abuse, whatever the form, is a serious issue. In fact, both the abuser and the abused child should receive proper treatment and counseling (e.g. from a social worker) to prevent a tragedy from happening. Therefore, if you notice your friends or neighbours have the propensity to abuse their child, you are obliged to give them a hand and help him seek assistance from the professionals.

Who Else Can Help?

Social Welfare Department's Hotline
Tel : 2343 2255

Christian Family Service Centre
Man's Hotline
(Every Tue, Thu, Sat; 10:00am-10:00pm)
Tel : 2787 1355

Harmony House Third Path Man Hotline
(Every Mon, Wed, Fri;
2:00pm-10:00pm)
Phone : 2295 1386

Against Child Abuse Ltd. Hotline
Phone : 2755 1122

Caritas Hong Kong Family Service
Hotline : 2649 1100

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