47 Cases of Children Being Abused by Religious Parents, Guidance Centers Say; ‘Inciting Fear, Restricting Freedom’ Most Common Form

The Yomiuri Shimbun

18:26 JST, April 26, 2024

Forty-seven cases of religious group members abusing their children were recorded by child guidance centers over a year and a half, according to the first report on such issues released Friday by the Children and Families Agency.

The report said in some cases it was difficult to determine whether the abuse was related to religion, that the agency considered the findings to be the tip of the iceberg and that it would consider new measures.

Guidelines on child abuse by religious parents were set for child guidance centers and local governments in December 2022 by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, asking that abuse that occurs in the homes of members of religious groups be divided into four categories: physical, sexual, neglect and psychological.

The survey was conducted by Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting Co., and 229 child guidance centers, or 98.7%, responded. Thirty-seven centers said abuse that met the guidelines’ criteria occurred between April 2022 and September 2023.

According to the report, the most common form of abuse was “causing fear through words or images and restricting free will,” reported by 11 centers. This was followed by “significant neglect due to missionary work” and other forms of abuse in 4 centers. In 19 of the 47 confirmed cases, the children were temporarily placed in emergency care.

The centers found it difficult to determine whether some cases were abuse, such as when children were punished for doing something wrong, parents tried to cure a high fever with fasting, or a school lunch was refused due to a family’s faith.

“While there was uncertainty, some cases were apparently seen as abuse,” an agency official said.

The same survey was also conducted for medical institutions housing emergency centers. There was found to be one case in which a person did not seek medical attention as they were being treated by a religious official and died in an outpatient clinic.

A total of 138 institutions, or 45.4%, responded, and 22 institutions said that abuse had occurred in the three years through last September. There were 10 cases each for “They wouldn’t allow the patient to see a doctor, and wouldn’t allow the patient to have a blood transfusion a doctor deemed necessary” and “They wouldn’t allow the patient to have any treatment the doctor deemed necessary.”

Social media: 47 cases of child abuse by religious parents were recorded by child guidance centers over a year and a half, according to a recent report by the Children and Families Agency.