| With the development of human rights theory,children’s rights have gradually received wider and wider attention from the academic community.A large number of research data show that child abuse has become a major risk factor for children’s safety,and China is no exception.This paper empirically examines the current situation of child abuse and its governance in China,reflects on the real problems of child abuse governance in China from the perspectives of both governance philosophy and governance practice,and then proposes corresponding solutions.Through a comprehensive analysis of the current situation of child abuse in China,it can be found that the actual incidence of child abuse in China is still high,and the proportion of serious injury and death cases is relatively high.Based on this,we can find that there are still some problems in the criminal governance of child abuse in China,which are manifested in the judicial practice: low prosecution rate of child abuse,confusion in the application of charges,lenient sentences,low application rate of restraining orders,etc.These problems in the criminal governance practice together reveal the cautious attitude in the criminal governance of child abuse in China.To some extent,this cautious attitude is a concession of our criminal law to family ethics,and it also shows that there is a certain deviation in the direction of child protection in our criminal law.In order to improve the criminal governance practice of child abuse in China,it is necessary to correct the misunderstanding of the biased governance philosophy and even criminal policy in a timely and appropriate manner.At the conceptual level,we should clarify the status of children as equal subjects in the family,the higher obligations required by criminal law among family members,and the practical necessity of strengthening the criminal law protection for minor victims;at the policy level,we should reaffirm the basic principles and guiding strategies for child protection in the China Child Development Program(2021-2030),and restate the comprehensive understanding of the criminal policy of leniency and severity.How to implement leniency and severity in child abuse cases is discussed.The conceptual policy can be a flag and a benchmark for the practice of child abuse management in China,but the conceptual policy needs to be implemented in the appropriate management path.A review of the main paths of child abuse governance reveals that the paths of child abuse governance need to focus on two aspects: whether to choose special protection that is different from adults or general protection that is equal to adults,and whether to choose legislative-centered or judicial-centered protection.In view of the urgent need for child protection and the current situation of legislation and justice in China,the adoption of special protection for abused children with a judicial focus can respond to the international community’s eagerness to protect abused children,but is also in line with the reality of child abuse management in China,and is the best path to choose for the criminal management of child abuse in China.Based on this premise,this paper argues that there is room for improvement in the criminal governance of child abuse in China: the public prosecution should be more proactive in initiating prosecution in child abuse cases,the people’s courts should apply the relevant crimes accurately and handle child abuse cases with discretionary severity,and the implementation and application of the concept of restorative justice in the judicial process of child abuse cases. |
