Name sex offenders to protect children

At a conference on Wednesday, the Supreme People's Court discussed ways of better protecting minors and stressed the importance of making public details of those who sexually assault children.

This is much needed given that the Girl Protection Fund found 433 girls were sexually assaulted in 2016.In 61 of these cases, one suspect had assaulted two or more girls; in 269, or 62.12 percent of the cases, the suspect committed the offense more than once. It means that repetitive sexual assault of girls is rather high and offenders often target more than one victim. It is thus important to find a way of preventing repeat violations once a case is found.

Most sexual violations of children take place in primary schools, extracurricular training agencies, and other professions where there is easy access to children. In this context, making public records of those sexually assaulting children will make it easier for hiring agencies to reject their job applications, reducing the chances of them again harassing someone.

It is therefore important to introduce a system for publicizing the names and other information of those who have sexually violated minors. It should be treated as an effective protection against more children falling victims to potential offenders.

As early as 2017, Tang Sulan, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, the nation's top political advisory body, proposed publicizing the information of those sexually violating children and preventing them from entering child-related professions.

Sexual violation leaves victims with lifelong psychological and physiological damage. It leaves scars that haunt victims even 30 to 50 years later. It is therefore necessary to make the names of those with a criminal record public so that they can be kept away from potential victims.