As child abuse increasingly makes headlines in Japan, a Swedish journalist who has made many documentaries on youngsters says there is indeed truth to common findings that many abusive parents were victims of abuse during their own childhood.

In Japan, the number of child abuse consultations at public child counseling centers nationwide reached 32,979 in fiscal 2004, up 24 percent from the previous year, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has reported.

According to Ylva Martens, a producer at public radio broadcaster Swedish Radio, Sweden has also seen a rise in child abuse reports in recent years, although it is unclear whether incidents are really on the rise or merely coming out into the open.

But research has shown many of the parents who abuse their offspring were abused during childhood, she said.

"It is tragic," the 56-year-old Martens said, adding that it is often difficult to stop the chain of violence. "But I think (one way) you can stop it is (by offering) therapy for child abusers."

Martens concluded an 18-day trip to Japan on Wednesday, during which she conducted research and collected material for a documentary about Japanese children for her radio station.

In many cases in Sweden, mothers who abuse children are frustrated with child-rearing because they often feel there's not enough time to both work and care for kids, she said. Their husbands are meanwhile often away at work and cannot provide support.

While the journalist pointed to the importance of communication between parents and children to prevent offspring from becoming violent, she added that schoolteachers also have a role to play.

However, she said, it appears more difficult for teachers in Japan to pay close attention to their charges, because the student-to-teacher ratio here is much higher compared with Sweden, where there around 25 in a class.