The General Office of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the government of Ningxia recently issued a document about improving work involving the judicial protection of minors. The document contains 19 articles, for the purpose of providing special and comprehensive judicial protection of minors' rights.

As stipulated in the document, a comprehensive minors-protection platform should be built and applied throughout the region, and minors' protection centers should be established at the county level. The platform and the centers will help integrate the strengths of families, schools, society, governments, the judicial system and online resources.

The document clarifies that women's federations, courts, procuratorates and health commissions must make clear which departments lead minors' protection work, and outline the tasks of all departments bearing the responsibility of minors' protection.

It also suggests a more professional and socialized judicial protection mechanism for minors should be built. The document stipulates delinquent minors should receive targeted help and education, with education first and punishment as a form of support. The reputation, privacy and personal information of minors should be protected, and efforts to crack down on illegally obtaining, purchasing and/or selling minors' personal information should be strengthened.

The document stresses a system should be established to restrict specific job applicants — those convicted of sexually abusing minors — from entering certain industries. It emphasizes that a region-wide database of child sex offenders should be established, and a compulsory reporting system on child offense cases should be implemented.

(Women of China English Monthly July 2021 issue)