Amendments to the Child Act 2001 crucial

“Childhood should be carefree, playing in the sun; not living a nightmare in the dark-ness of the soul.“

Dave Pelzer, American author

IN an article in Malaysiakini in March this year, I wrote about the increasing number of sexual crimes against children.

I had quoted Professor Rozhan Othman’s March 17 article published in the news portal, chastising certain Malay politicians over the issue.

I was glad that the professor had brought up the issue of sex crimes against children as the increasing abuse incidents were a cause of concern.

I had written then that it would not be way off for me to say that Rozhan’s remarks were directed at PAS leaders and followers as the sexual crimes against children were particularly high in the three PAS-controlled states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah.

That article was an insight on the issue from a political perspective.

Today, let us look at the problem holistically from the social aspect. Last Saturday’s story titled ‘Spurred by abuse incidents, Child Act amendments to be tabled this year’ by Bernama caught my attention and I’m following up on the child abuse issue as a matter of interest.

According to the report, the Women, Family, and Community Development Ministry is finalising amendments to the Child Act 2001, which will be tabled in Parliament this year.

It quoted the minister, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, as saying that the amendments are not due to pressure from any party but were needed due to numerous incidents involving children, requiring comprehensive regulations, including for childcare centres.

“The matter (amendments) is in the drafting process, and as incidents occur, we are compelled to further amend the laws,” she added.

Nancy said the amendments align with the establishment of the Child Development Department on Sept 1 last year.

The Child Development Department was established to find the best solutions for promptly addressing the increasingly critical issues of child neglect and abuse.

This effort is based on five main pillars: prevention, development, protection, rehabilitation, and reintegration into society, the minister added.

I have known Nancy to be deeply concerned with the rising number of sex crimes against children and I believe she is determined to do her level best to resolve the problem.

Overall, Nancy has shown her dedication and passion for her ministerial duties, and she does not dabble in politicking, a sickening habit which has caused many cabinet members to fail miserably.

Many of us will want Nancy to succeed in her campaign against sex crimes involving children as we are aware of the immense pain and suffering the innocent victims have to go through at the hands of the perpetrators.

This is an example of how serious the situation is at home.

A Jan 1 article in Sinar Daily, quoting a recent report by the Statistics Department, revealed a disturbing increase in child sexual crimes in Malaysia.

In 2022, there were 1,621 reported cases, a 9.5 per cent jump from 1,481 cases in 2021.

The report noted that all categories witnessed an increase, except for sexual harassment and molestation cases.

Among the total reported cases, rape saw the highest increase at 13.7 per cent, with 1,277 cases recorded in 2022 compared to 1,123 in 2021.

“Incest ranked as the secondhighest reported crime, with 235 cases in 2022 versus 222 in the previous year,” the report read.

That rape and incest top the list of sex crimes against children is indeed very disturbing.

Rape and incest are abhorrent crimes that inflict immense physical and psychological harm on the victims.

Fighting sex crimes against children is a tall order for the authorities and its success requires public cooperation and a multifaceted approach involving legal, educational, technological and community-based strategies.

Firstly, the amendments to the Child Act 2001, as announced by Nancy, is crucial as there is a need to strengthen the legal frameworks and enforcement.

We also need to enact stringent laws that impose severe penalties on perpetrators of child sex crimes.

Then, there is also the necessity to promote cross-border cooperation to tackle child trafficking and exploitation, ensuring that offenders cannot escape justice by moving to another country.

Most importantly, we need to implement educational programmes in schools and communities to teach children about body safety, recognising inappropriate behaviour, and how to report it.

And of course, public awareness campaigns to educate the public about the signs of child sexual abuse and the importance of reporting suspected cases are also vital.

I believe that Nancy and her ministry officers are more than happy to hear views and suggestions from the public on how to better tackle and resolve this societal scourge affecting our innocent children.

The minister is a Sarawakian and an approachable politician and I believe it is not that difficult to contact her or her office, either in Kuching or Putrajaya.

I’m sure Nancy will be more than happy to hear from the people on the issue.

The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of Sarawak Tribune.