The Department of Social Welfare has highlighted that one contributing factor to the high number of child abuse cases in the country is negligence.
Director for Social Welfare Rupeni Fatiaki says more than 1,300 cases of child abuse were recorded last year, the highest recorded number since 2016.
Fatiaki says other cases include violence against children, malnutrition cases and teenage pregnancies.
He says it is concerning that parents do not spend time with their children and most of the time children are left on their own.
He adds that some of these cases were reported to them and when they investigate, they discover some of the reasons why this is continuously happening.
The Director stated that some of these cases have been referred to Police, the Health Ministry and the Education Ministry.
The 2019 statistics show a 22% increase compared to 838 cases reported in 2018.
According to the Child Welfare Act National Database, 3061 cases involving children were reported between 2016 and 2018.
In December last year, the Social Welfare and Child Services Department also found that in 2018 there were 226 cases of neglect followed by 149 cases of physical abuse and 130 cases of sexual abuse of children in Fiji.
Fatiaki says the investigation into such cases include talking to the children's parents and educating them on the care of the young ones.
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