According to Beijing Daily, soon after a man named Gu adopted a 5-year-old girl named Xiaoyou (pseudonym), he took advantage of the convenience of living together and raped Xiaoyou for a long time and many times. It was not until Xiaoyou went to middle school that she talked to her classmates about her being sexually assaulted. The classmates reported it to the class teacher, who immediately reported it to the director of the school’s political and educational department. After the director of the political and educational department learned about Xiaoyou’s situation, he reported it to the principal and asked for help from the judicial office. The staff of the judicial office went to the police station to report the case.
The police found out that in addition to Xiaoyou, Gu also sexually assaulted 4 other underage girls. In the end, Gu was sentenced to death by the court for rape and child molestation.
It is understood that in recent years, a considerable proportion of clues of minors being sexually assaulted came from hospitals or schools, and related cases were quickly investigated and handled. Doctors and teachers actively fulfilled their “mandatory reporting” obligations, which played a key role.
What is the mandatory reporting system? In May 2020, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and nine other ministries and commissions issued the “Opinions on Establishing a Mandatory Reporting System for Cases of Infringement on Minors (Trial)”, requiring all kinds of organizations and their employees who have close contact with minors to immediately report or report to the public security organs if they find that minors have suffered or are suspected of having suffered illegal infringement or are facing the risk of illegal infringement during work.
“The effective implementation of the mandatory reporting system is an important measure to promptly discover and stop crimes against minors, and it is also an important way to protect the legitimate rights and interests of minors.” The procuratorate said.
