KPWKM will sustain child advocacy Programme to fight sexual abuse - Nancy

KUCHING: The Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (KPWKM) will continue to mobilise the ‘Child Protection Advocacy Programme: KASIH Kanak-kanak’ nationwide in rallying the communities to fight sexual offences against minors.

Its minister, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, said KPWKM and the Ministry of Education have held the programme in 327 schools this year.

“We targeted 300 schools, and we have reached 109 per cent and we will not stop implementing this programme because we have more than 10,000 schools in Malaysia.

“As long as there are reported cases of sexual harassment of children, we will never stop... with the current situation, especially the advancement of technology, there are many ways for this issue of sexual harassment to occur,“ she said after the sponsorship presentation ceremony by the National Welfare Foundation (YKN) strategic partners for Anjung Kasih (a temporary boarding for family of sick treated in hospitals) and Bilik Kasih Wanita (a special room for female nurses to take rest) at the Sarawak General Hospital here today.

She was commenting on the 2024 Child Statistics report, which stated that sexual offences committed against children reported to police increased by 26.5 per cent to 1,567 cases in 2023 compared to 1,239 in the previous year.

Nancy also called on children and families of victims to continue reporting to the authorities or community-based organisations (CBOs) in their districts in the event of sexual offences even if the perpetrators are their flesh and blood.

According to statistics released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), physical sexual offences in 2023 saw a significant increase of 21.1 per cent which is 1,389 cases compared to 1,147 cases in 2022.