Despite the government more than doubling its child abuse response budget over the past six years to strengthen state responsibility, the re-abuse rate has continued to rise annually. [Yonhap]
Despite the government more than doubling its child abuse response budget over the past six years to strengthen state responsibility, the re-abuse rate has continued to rise annually. [Yonhap]

The government has more than doubled its child abuse response budget over the past six years, but the rate at which children are abused again continues to rise each year — prompting calls for a shift away from reactive spending toward prevention-focused policy.

According to a report released Sunday by the National Assembly Budget Office evaluating child abuse prevention and victim protection programs, the central government's child abuse budget grew roughly 2.2 times — from about 26.7 billion won ($18.2 million) in 2020 to about 58.7 billion won this year.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare accounts for more than 90 percent of child abuse-related spending and plays the central role. Of this year's total budget of 58.69 billion won, the ministry holds 53.87 billion won, followed by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family at 3.46 billion won, the Korean National Police Agency at 1.12 billion won and the Ministry of Justice at 245 million won.

Fiscal transfers to local governments for child abuse prevention and victim protection programs also nearly doubled, rising from about 23.4 billion won in 2020 to about 45.7 billion won last year, with the execution rate improving to 96 percent last year.

Yet despite the budget expansion, child abuse remains a persistent and recurring problem.

The report highlighted that the re-abuse rate — a key indicator — has risen steadily from 10.3 percent in 2018 and has hovered around 16 percent for several years since 2022.

The re-abuse rate stood at 15.9 percent in 2024, far exceeding the government's target of 7.7 percent set under the Second Basic Plan for Child Policy (2020–2024).

"Simply increasing fiscal input cannot guarantee policy effectiveness," the report said. "Spending is currently skewed toward after-the-fact responses, and prevention mechanisms are not functioning adequately before abuse or re-abuse occurs."

The report also noted that the overall concentration of child abuse funding in the Ministry of Health and Welfare has left other agencies relatively underinvested in judicial, investigative and recovery support functions.

"Prevention is more important than after-the-fact response in child abuse cases, but increased fiscal input at the prevention stage has not translated into meaningful risk reduction," the report said, urging the government to both expand prevention spending and introduce more effective operational measures.

The report further said the government should strengthen systems for identifying and intervening with high-risk households, and expand investment in parental education, counseling and family rehabilitation programs. It also called for stronger social and economic support for high-risk and crisis families, all with the aim of reducing the incidence of abuse itself.

The report also warned that having multiple ministries and agencies shoulder overlapping core functions risks secondary harm to victims, fiscal inefficiency and gaps in protection. It called for integrated governance across central and local governments and relevant agencies, including legislation mandating information sharing.


greg@heraldcorp.com