A total of 930 different cases relating to children were received by the Ministry of Women and Children’s Child Services Unit.
Unit Assistant Director, Ela Tukutukulevu, says these statistics have dropped compared to the 1077 cases received last year.
Tukutukulevu says child neglect tops the list with 259 cases followed by physical and sexual abuse.
The increasing cases of malnutrition and teenage pregnancy are also a concern.
“It’s been dealt on a case by case basis because not all the cases are the same, for some children are left because there is not enough income sources in the family so what happens when the welfare officer does the assessment, if they find that they do not have enough source of incomes, there are programs that can assist them so there are sometimes we assist them with the CAN protection allowance, or for some Poverty Benefit Scheme.”
A total of 22 cases of abandoned children were also recorded and these children are currently under the care of ten safety homes around the country.
