In order to allow people to understand the feelings of children who have been abused, the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families (TFCF) yesterday organized an event at Taipei Railway Station for people to experience the psychological torment by covering their eyes while broadcasting cries for help from children.
TFCF said an average of two incidents of child abuse are reported every two hours, although the actual numbers may much be higher. The TFCF marks April to June each year as its Child Protection Promotion Season, and is advocating to get Monday recognized as Child Protection Day, to raise public awareness of child abuse.
To advertise its campaign, TFCF organized road running events across the nation, starting in Kinmen on April 10 and arriving in Taipei yesterday. Meanwhile, another run is to be held in Hualien today.
Photo: CNA
“With our Child Protection Day campaign, we hope to urge parents to show more care for their children, to protect their children and hug their children more often,” TFCF executive director Ho Su-chiu (何素秋) said. “We would also like to remind the public to refrain from beating your children. Whenever a problem occurs between you and your kid, remember not to get angry, close your eyes to calm yourself down, call the TFCF hotline 0800-078-585 to seek help. Hug your kid, and give them a smile.”
The TFCF also arranged an event in which voluntary participants could have their eyes covered and listen to the crying and shouting of abuse victims, so that participants would be able to feel the mental pressure of children suffering from domestic violence.
Child Protection Ambassadors singer-actress Amber An (安心亞) and child star Chiao Chiao (喬喬) also took part in the experience session. Chiao Chiao, who portrayed an abuse victim in a recent film, urged adults not to beat children.
Ho said that the TFCF has been working on the child protection campaign for 27 years. Last year, a total of 16,000 child abuse cases were reported, but the group estimates that the actual number may be as high as 80,000. At the moment, there are 3,760 abused children and young adults who need special counseling service.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the