Children need to be taught the importance of emotional intelligence and how to be good citizens 8515 cases reported via our hotline in 2019, currently around 4500 cases being investigated Importance afforded to mental health is insufficient and it should be improved A 15-year-old girl was burnt when she was 5 and sexually abused when she was 12 by his stepfather. Her case was filed in 2018, but it’s still in its early stages. Sexually abused since she was 12; for a period of four years, by her biological father. This drove this 16-year-old girl to attempt to end her life seven times. Hearing stories such as these have unfortunately become a norm in our country. This year started with 54 cases of child abuse being reported within the first 15 days. The extensive time taken to hear a case and the re-victimization within the system, failure in implementing the law and the absence of a policy are proofs that the country lacks an effective child protection framework. “Statistically, there hasn’t been much of an increase, but more cases are now being reported. There was definitely an increase in cases during the curfew period. Our organization has been bombarded with cases since February this year,” said Attorney- at- law, Milani Salpitakorale, founder of Child Protection Force. She also observed that this was due to more people willing to come forward and report, especially those from conservative backgrounds. However, she noted that there were shortcomings in the legal system on child abuse cases.