Photo/Illutration Police and child consultation center staff conduct a drill to take custody of a child from a home where the father is infected with the novel coronavirus in Saitama in November 2021. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Cases of child abuse have quadrupled in the past decade, according to the National Police Agency, with record high cases being reported during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, police reported 2,174 child abuse cases nationwide, up 41 from the previous year.

The report, released on March 10, also said that 2,219 children under age 18 were subjected to abuse in 2021, up 47 from the previous year.

Both figures were record highs for the eighth straight year and have quadrupled in the last 10 years, according to the report.

More than 80 percent of the reported cases, or 1,766, involved physical abuse such as assault and injury, while 339 involved sexual abuse.

Fifty-four children died because of abuse, of which 29 died in a murder-suicide.

Police reported a possible child abuse case to a child consultation center for a record high 108,059 children in 2021.

The report also said 45,972 children, more than 40 percent of the 108,059 cases, witnessed a family member committing physical violence on another family member.

Police said it is difficult to statistically conclude that the increase was due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But police pledged to keep aware of a potential impact because child abuse tends to be hidden and the pandemic has lessened opportunities to monitor children.

Experts have said that every time an infection “wave” of the pandemic has hit, it became difficult for authorities and support groups to check on the safety of children who are suspected of being abused.

A director of a child consultation center said it is important to visually confirm the safety of (a child) within 48 hours after police warn of a potential case of child abuse.

But some parents have refused a home visitation by authorities citing the pandemic, the director said.

Makiko Okuyama, a pediatric psychiatrist and board member of the Japanese Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, said schools and related organizations have prioritized implementing anti-virus measures due to the spread of the Omicron variant and changes in children’s behavior have increasingly gone unnoticed.

Many classes have been held online, and even when children go to school, it is difficult to discern their facial expressions because they are wearing masks, Okuyama said.

Okuyama said risk factors for child abuse have increased, with concerns that sexual abuse cases in particular have become hidden.

Sexual abuse is often brought to light by a child reporting it to a nursery school teacher or a friend in whom they have placed trust.

But such an opportunity has been lost due to the pandemic, she said.

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