More than 130,000 child abuse cases were handled by consultation centers across the country in fiscal 2017, on the back of increasing reports of children suffering from psychological damage after witnessing instances of domestic violence, preliminary health ministry data showed Thursday.
The figure rose 9.1 percent from a year earlier to 133,778, marking a 27th straight year of increase since comparable data became available in 1990.
The ministry attributed the rising number of reports to increased awareness among the public that psychological mistreatment, such as witnessing acts of domestic violence, can also be counted as child abuse.