BEIJING - The All-China Women's Federation Thursday strongly denounced crimes against children and called for more social intervention in the wake of recent violent incidents involving children.

The organization called on police to speed up investigations into recent violent cases and urged courts to hand down heavier sentences to offenders in such crimes, said a statement issued by the organization, the biggest national women's group in China.

A six-year-old boy had his eyes gouged out by an unidentified female suspect in a village in North China's Shanxi province on Saturday.

Last month, the public was shocked by an incident in which a man lifted a baby girl from her carriage and hurled her to the ground after a dispute with the mother in Beijing. The suspect has been arrested.

Local women's organizations will try their best to help law enforcement departments crack down on violent crimes targeting children, the organization said in the statement.

The organization will also work to educate parents and other family members about how to keep their children safe, it said.

Parents, especially those in rural areas, should be more vigilant, while the community and government should work together to improve social safety, it added.

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