More than 150 reports of possible violations of children’s rights were received over the Christmas weekend, the State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service has said.
“Over the holiday weekend, the child rights defenders received more than 150 reports of possible violations of children’s rights, 60 of which were urgent, and we responded to them with the police. In total, more than 80 children were provided with a safe environment that weekend,” Alina Žilinaitė, a representative of the service, said in a comment to the news agency ELTA.
According to her, almost all reports were related to alcohol consumption and “in some cases, domestic violence”.
She noted that the number of reports of violations of children’s rights is growing every year. In 2020, 39,430 reports were received, while 40,493 were submitted in 2021, and 44,543 this year.
Moreover, 2,486 children were victims of violence in 2020, 2,594 in 2021 and 2,803 this year.
“This shows that people’s tolerance for violations of children’s rights is decreasing, and our society is becoming more aware and more willing to help the child next door. On the other hand, we are observing worrying data,” Žilinaitė said.
In the most serious case, a 2-year-old girl was seriously injured on Christmas. The girl was brought to Kaunas clinics during the holidays and was urgently operated on due to severe internal bleeding and multiple injuries.
Her 19-year-old mother and her 22-year-old boyfriend have been arrested.
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