(COLOMBO) – The Sri Lankan authorities have received over 9,000 complaints of child abuse from throughout the country during the whole of last year, officials said on Thursday.
The country’s National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) Chairman, Udayakumara Amarasinghe said as many as 9,434 complaints were received between January 1, and 31 December last year, a drastic increase when compared to 7,466 complaints received the previous year.
Among these are, 2,242 complaints of cruelty, 472 on sexual abuse, 404 on severe sexual abuse, 51 on rape of female children, and 6 on using children for obscene posts, he said.
In addition, complaints were also received with regard to child exploitation, trafficking, domestic abuse, neglect, and kidnapping.
Amarasinghe said these complaints have been forwarded to the respective authorities for onward legal action.
Meanwhile, discussions are in progress to amend certain existing laws to crack down on child abuse, Amarasinghe said.
