Time to act on stalled proposal toughening child abuse penalties, lawmakers say

AdvertisementHong Kong societyHong KongSocietyTime to act on stalled proposal toughening child abuse penalties, lawmakers saySCMP check finds that only one of 13 cases of serious child abuse offences over more than two decades resulted in close to maximum 10-year sentence 3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenFiona ChowPublished: 12:00pm, 12 Apr 2026Hong Kong authorities have been urged to toughen penalties for child abuse as a proposal to review protection laws for minors, which were last updated in 1995, has remained stalled for seven years. A check by the South China Morning Post found that over more than 20 years, only one of 13 serious child abuse cases involving ill-treatment or neglect of a child or young person resulted in a jail term close to the maximum of 10 years. Lawmakers earlier this month called for increasing the 10-year maximum penalty for child abuse and neglect offences as they passed a non-binding motion on moving forward to “holistically review and enhance legislation relating to child protection”. AdvertisementThe maximum penalty for such offences was last increased from two years in 1995. The SCMP looked at 13 judgments reached in the most serious child abuse and neglect cases between 1999 and last year, and found that only one adopted a starting point of nine years and six months’ imprisonment, while some resulted in sentences of about two years. AdvertisementThree cases resulted in 10-year jail terms, but they also involved manslaughter charges. AdvertisementSelect VoiceSelect Speed0.8x0.9x1.0x1.1x1.2x1.5x1.75x00:0000:001.00x