There were 47 child abuse cases apparently reflecting parents' religious beliefs in Japan between April 2022 and September 2023, a Children and Families Agency survey showed Friday.
The suspected abuse cases were found by child consultation centers across the country, with victims temporarily taken into protective custody in 19 of the total cases, while some of the victims, often called "second-generation followers," sought support to become more self-reliant or advance to the next level of education.
The agency plans to consider necessary measures based on the results of the survey, which also covered medical institutions with critical care centers and municipal governments as well as elementary, and junior and senior high schools.