Mandatory reporting to safeguard minors

The Supreme People's Procuratorate mentioned six cases in which the authorities violated the mandatory reporting system for the sexual violation of minors on Friday. It led to those responsible being punished.

The mandatory reporting system introduced in May 2020 requires all authorities concerned to call the police when they suspect possible sexual violation of minors.

Most such sexual violations take place in hotels. Sexually violated minors with injuries often land up in hospitals, while schools are where minors spend most of their time.

The six cases involved hotel staff members who failed to call the police on seeing minor girls being dragged into hotel rooms where they were sexually violated. There are private hospitals which failed to call the police when they received pregnant young girls.

For proper investigation to take place, the hotel and hospital staff should have alerted the police. They now face penalties. They are among 299 people punished for the over 1,600 cases of violation in the procuratorate report.

There is no way to analyze the psychology of the 299 people involved, but one thing is certain. They all chose to be indifferent instead of helping, when all they needed to do was to call the police.

The mandatory reporting system means that some of those aware of a crime have the choice of either making efforts to ensure justice or face punishment.

At the beginning of May, a 16-year-old middle school student in Zhaotong city, Southwest China's Yunnan province, was reported to have given birth after the father of her classmate raped her. She lived in the dormitory during the entire pregnancy period, but neither her teachers nor headmaster had any inkling until she delivered the baby.

Had any of the authorities in the dormitory alerted the police, the girl could have been spared further ordeal.

From May 2020 to March 2022, procuratorates have received many clues from the mandatory reporting system in 2,854 cases involving violation of minors, most of which could be prevented. We hope the system is able to save more people in the future.