The public is more comfortable about alerting police due to growing awareness (of the problem of child abuse), resulting in the increase.

Crime's NOT increasing, says the cop, people are only reporting more of it.

Which means it was happening all along and the cops knew nothing about it.

Nice job, guys.

Unfortunately many in the public is already aware that we are in epidemic of child abuse. But less known and still well understood is what causes it. Sadly the massive growth of child abuse coincides directly with the divorce revolution and fatherless homes. Child abuse takes place overwhelmingly in the homes and at the hands of single parents. Children are up to 33 times more abused in single-parent home than in an intact family, and almost two-thirds of child abusers are females, and mother's account for over 50% of child murders. So the safest place for a child is an intact, two-parent home that is, a home with a father in it because children's naturals protectors are their father. In the end removing the father is what exposes the children to danger

The NPA official's quote is partially correct.

Yes, there is growing public awareness of child abuse in Japan, and fortunately less "this only happens in other countries" denial surrounding the issue than before. However, the primary reason the public is now more "comfortable" reporting these incidents is that the police are finally more receptive to these reports, and pursuing them somewhat more seriously. Before, they tended to regard such abuse as a "domestic matter" and discouraged the public from reporting incidents.

The same scenario has been playing out with gropers. Several decades ago groping incidents were commonly referred to as "itazura" (pranks/mischief), and the police would refuse to take action, even engaging in mean-spirited victim blaming to discourage others from reporting incidents. Now, they fortunately take these incidents more seriously. In both cases, this is obviously a positive trend.

So the safest place for a child is an intact, two-parent home that is, a home with a father in it because children's naturals protectors are their father. In the end removing the father is what exposes the children to danger

I don't know many people who lightly choose to be a single parent. I for one know I was NOT an abused child because my mother had the courage to leave an abusive and hateful man, and her protective nature is how she managed to raise 3 healthy kids.

Sadly the massive growth of child abuse coincides directly with the divorce revolution and fatherless homes.

I don't know about that. According to my elderly students (who largely grew up in intact, two-parent or even multi-generational homes) child abuse has always been prevalent in Japan. It's just that it was swept under the rug in earlier times.

According to my elderly students

You're an Eikaiwa teach and you talk to your students about child abuse?