More child-friendly policies should be adopted by the government including legislation banning corporate punishment, a child welfare campaigner said Sunday, dpa reported.
Priscilla Lui, director of Against Child Abuse, said children needed special help especially as recent surveys had indicated family life was breaking down with several cases of children being left home alone.
Speaking on a RTHK radio programme, Lui said there was resistance to discussing child-related issues.
She called on the government to ban corporal punishment and create a cabinet-level agency to look after the interests of children.
Lui backed plans for sex-offender's registry that would allow employers and owners of facilities, such as sports and leisure centres, to check on the background of potential employees and members.
She also highlighted the case of an 8-year-old girl and her 6-year-old brother, who climbed down a drainpipe outside their apartment on the 34th storey in June. They said they climbed outside to go buy food while their mother slept in a bedroom.
Lui criticized the government decision to take the children from their parents to be put into the temporary care of social workers.