More than half of Hong Kong children aged between six and 13 have been hit by their parents in the last year, according to a survey.
The Against Child Abuse (ACA) group interviewed 1,562 students between November 2014 and February this year, and found that 54 percent claim to have received corporal punishment from their parents in the last year.
Seventy percent said they receive such treatment occasionally, 10 percent said they are hit every week, while five percent said they are punished physically every day.
Just over half of these children said their parents struck them because of poor grades or late homework, while 47 percent said they were punished for lifestyle habits such as watching too much TV or spending too much pocket money.
Most reported being spanked with a hand or an object, while some said they were locked up.
What ACA described as mental abuse was also found to be rife, with 32 percent of children saying their parents threatened to throw away their favourite toys.
They called on the Hong Kong government to do more to protect child welfare, pointing out that while there are child abuse laws and a law preventing physical punishment in schools, there is no ban on such practices in a domestic setting.
Photo: Tommy Wong
