|
November 21, 2009
|
||||||||
The headlines at the time were stark. Yeong-hoon’s parents barely fed him or his older sister. Both were regularly abused. When Yeong-hoon was found by a social worker in April 1998, he was little more than skin and bones. There were burns from a steam iron on his back. His feet had been punctured by metal chopsticks. Jang Hwa-jeong, a social worker at the Good Neighbors Suwon branch, who rushed to Yeong-hoon’s house after receiving a tip from his neighbor, said that if Yeong-hoon had been found a week later, he would have surely been dead.
The boy’s sister wasn’t so lucky. She died before Jang managed to find Yeong-hoon and was buried in the front yard by her parents. Forensic doctors said the cause of death was starvation. A court handed 15-year jail sentences to Yeong-hoon’s parents, and lawmakers quickly introduced a law to separate children from parents who abused them. Though Yeong-hoon, an alias, turned 17 this year, he hasn’t fully recovered from the nightmare he suffered 11 years ago. He takes antidepressants every morning. Yeong-hoon has lived in a children’s shelter since 2000. The road hasn’t been easy. After he was found, Yeong-hoon spent a month in a hospital. A young couple who wanted to lend a helping hand took Yeong-hoon into foster care. But being exposed to long-term abuse had caused more than physical scars. The 6-year-old Yeong-hoon turned violent to his foster parents and children at a nursery. The young couple gave up trying and sought the help of an older, more experienced couple. But they could not handle the boy either. That’s how Yeong-hoon ended up in a shelter, where caregivers offered him regular psychological therapy. As a first step, they urged the boy to talk about the painful memories, but Yeong-hoon resisted. He walled himself off for three years. Then, when he was 11, he slowly opened up. Yeong-hoon recalled that his father had ripped the shirt off his back and pressed a steam iron to his spine. “I almost died,” he told a therapist. The scars on his feet, he said, had been caused by his mother. But for two years, Yeong-hoon never mentioned nuna, the Korean word for his older sister. When he finally mentioned her, it hurt. “My sister brought me food .?.?. I’m really sorry that I couldn’t protect her,” Yeong-hoon said in 2005. It had taken the boy eight years to say the word “nuna.” “After Yeong-hoon opened up about his parents and his sister, the psychological damage caused by child abuse and his feelings of indebtedness to his sister began to slowly lift,” said a therapist. After confronting his deep feelings about his sister, the boy felt he didn’t need to continue therapy. At first, everything seemed fine. But Yeong-hoon became extremely agitated when he graduated middle school and entered high school. Adapting to a new environment wasn’t easy. It was 2008 when Yeong-hoon was diagnosed with depression and started taking his medication. Yeong-hoon, however, never gave up. And now he’s found two things he very much adores: his drums and his girlfriend. Yeong-hoon has pasted a sign on his locker which reads: “Laugh five times a day.” “The younger that a child is abused, the more likely it is that he’ll suffer even after he becomes an adult,” said Kim Jeong-mi, a social worker with the Good Neighbors Seongnam branch. Yeong-hoon’s case prompted lawmakers to adopt laws to protect children, and shelters for such children are now widespread across the nation. But Pyo Chang-won, a professor at Korean National Police University, calls for even more improvements. “In Canada, all citizens are required to report child abuse cases they’re aware of,” Pyo said. “Canada’s legal system dealing with child abuse is notable because children are covered under child protection laws while child abuse offenders are punished under criminal laws.” Pyo explained that Korea punishes offenders for violating child protection laws that prohibit neglecting or abusing children. Offenders receive lighter sentences than others sentenced under criminal laws. Jang, a social worker at the Good Neighbors Suwon branch, said it’s important for more people to report suspected child abuse when they see its telltale signs. “Most types of child abuse occur at home,” Jang said. “If no one reports the incidents, no one will find out if the child is at a risk or not. If a person suspects child abuse, he or she should call the Health Ministry’s hotline 129 or 1577-1391.” Last, but not least, Jang said, as a way to root out repeated child abuse, the government should offer education to child abuse offenders. “In the case of developed countries liked United States, child abuse offenders are required to attend education sessions after they are released from prison,” Jang said. “There should also be more shelters to look after child abuse victims who have nowhere else to go.” By Jeong Seon-eon, Kim Mi-ju [mijukim@joongang.co.kr] |
|
