Call for legal action against adults ‘failing in duty of care’

ADULTS living with abused children must also be charged for failing in their duty of care, says Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection Lynda Tabuya.

Ms Tabuya made the call after a video of an 11-year-old girl being violently assaulted by her father went viral on social media drawing criticisms from the public and authorities alike.

The footage showed several family members of the child not intervening when the child was being beaten by her father.

“It is in our Crimes Act that when a child dies, an adult that was looking after a child failed in their duty of care to that child leading to their death can be charged with manslaughter by negligence,” Ms Tabuya said.

“Why should we wait for the death of a child before charging them?

“So my ministry will be looking at suggesting or putting a policy that we need to propose a duty of care of all adults around a child.

“Especially in a situation like this, when each adult has a duty of care living in that home could stop a perpetrator.”

Ms Tabuya said a culture of fear still exists within homes where there was a dominant figure, but the silence needed to end to ensure the safety of a child.

“You must overcome that fear and realise that you have that duty of care.

“If you don’t have that duty of care, you must realise that you too can be charged for failing to provide the duty of care that led to the harm of that child.

“It already exists under manslaughter, but we cannot wait for a child to die.

“We must do it sooner. We can save a child. We can save a woman.

“So that is something that we want to propose in terms of policy changes this year.”