(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) –About 32 children are abused every day in this country, said the Minister of Mass Media, Dullas Alahapperuma at a workshop held at the Government Information Department on Wednesday.
This workshop was held on the ethics to be followed by the media in reporting on children.
The Minister said a child is abused every hour and this year alone the National Child Protection Authority has received 10,713 complaints regarding child abuse.
There were 1,632 complaints of abuse of children under the age of five and 2,626 complaints of abuse of children between the ages of 6 and 10. The Minister also stated that the number of unreported incidents is very high compared to the number of complaints recorded.
He said that although the relationship between the media and children should be similar to the teacher-student relationship, at present it has become like the relationship between a bogeyman and a child.
State Minister of Women and Child Development, Pre-School and Primary Education, School Infrastructure and Education Services Piyal Nishantha, Senior DIG Ajith Rohana and Director General of Government Information Mohan Samaranayake were also present.
