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Last year saw a surge in sex crimes against children even as the overall number of sexual offenses decreased, the National Police Agency said Tuesday. Police statistics registered 13,446 cases of sexual assault, down from 14,089 in 2004. But sexual abuse of children under 12 increased by 15 cases to 738, of which 584 targeted children between seven and 12. The number has been rising for four years.
The perpetrators were usually adult men who had problems forming normal relationships with women, police said. They tend to prey on children, who lack judgment and are physically weak.
Prof. Kwak Dae-Kyung of Dongguk University says children should be wary of unreasonable requests by strangers and of excessive kindness such as gifts of food and toys even if they are acquaintances. More than 80 percent of sexual crimes against children are committed by someone they know, according to the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center (KSVRC). In a recent incident, an elementary schoolgirl was raped and killed by a shoe store owner in the neighborhood.
The academic says children should be told to speak to adults who ask them favors in open and crowded areas and not to walk alone in isolated areas or go out alone after dark.
¡°It is important to teach children that they must tell their parents when they are touched or asked to do something by adults against their wish,¡± KSVRC chief Lee Mi-kyung said. Parents need to be aware of the possibility of sexual abuse when their children become unwilling to leave their mother¡¯s side or become unusually sensitive, she added.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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