A record 2,172 minors aged under 18 years old were subjected to abuse in Japan last year, police data showed earlier this week, as the novel coronavirus pandemic made it difficult for welfare workers to intervene.Police alerted child welfare centers nationwide of a total of 106,991 cases in which minors were suspected to have been abused in 2020, up 8,769 from the previous year and surpassing 100,000 for the first time since comparable data became available in 2004, according to the National Police Agency report released on Thursday.By month, the number of children referred to child welfare…READ FULL ARTICLE
