일본 아동복지법의 개정과 아동학대 대응에 관한 검토 -2016년 아동복지법 등의 일부를 개정하는 법률을 중심으로

As the social situation surrounding child welfare, such as the surge of child abuse, changes rapidly, the importance of the response is increasing. In recent years, Japan have witnessed the soaring rate of child abuse cases. Because child abuse is often committed by the supposed protectors of the children under the veil of “discipline”, the abusers do not have any strong sense of guilt, nor are the abused conscious of the fact that they are the victims of crime. In addition, the increase in the number of abused children and the continuing low birth rate and aging process have led to the recognition of the limitations of the child welfare system. This paper elucidates the Child Welfare Amendment Act 2016 in Japan and the countermeasures against it, in an attempt to propose a more effective framework to prevent child abuse in Korea.