The number of consultations concerning child abuse at children's counseling centers across the nation rose to a record high 24,195 in fiscal 2002, up 921 from the year before, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
The total represents a 22-fold increase from the 1,101 recorded in fiscal 1990, when the then Health and Welfare Ministry started gathering such data.
The number of consultations has seen an increase every year since 1990, increasing by about 1,000 a year from fiscal 1996 to fiscal 1998 and thereafter rising at an annual pace of 4,000 to 6,000 until fiscal 2001.