PROTECTING KIDS FROM
RECENTLY, a man captured national and international attention when he was charged with raping and sodomising his daughter more than 600 times.
Cases of sexual assault against minors are nothing new in Malaysia.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said there were 13,272 rape cases involving victims below 18 reported between 2010 and May this year. This means an average of 2,000 cases a year.
Let us also not forget the many cases that were not reported.
Therefore, the question is: what have we done to address the problem? What can we do to protect our children?
For one, credit must be given to the government for two achievements this year.
First, the Special Court on Sexual Offences Against Children at Putrajaya was launched on June 22. The court sits only for cases of sexual offences against children, thereby expediting the resolution of these cases.
By speeding up the court process, justice is served faster and victims get closure faster, too.
The court is equipped with equipment and toys to help children give evidence calmly and accurately.
This is especially important as the victim’s evidence is often the most crucial evidence in the prosecution.
Second, the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 came into force on July 10.
The provisions introduced by the new act include provisions on substantive law, that is, new crimes, as well as procedural law, or new standards in evaluating evidence.
First, the act provides that if an offence under it is committed outside Malaysia, the offender can still be prosecuted. For example, a Malaysian committing an offence in the United Kingdom may be prosecuted if he returns to Malaysia.
Second, child pornography under Section 4, sexual communication with a child under Section 11, child grooming under section 12, are new provisions to criminalise these behaviours.
Additionally, the act empowers prosecution of physical sexual assault under Section 14 and non-physical sexual assault under Section 15.
Section 14 provides that any person who, for sexual purposes:
TOUCHES any part of the body of a child;
MAKES a child touch any part of the body of such person or of any other person;
MAKES a child touch any part of the child’s own body; or,
DOES any other act that involves physical contact with a child without sexual intercourse, commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment not exceeding 20 years and shall also be liable to whipping.
Section 15 provides for sexual assaults that are non-physical, which cover harassment by uttering words or making certain sounds, self-exposure (showing his private parts to a child) and stalking, for sexual purposes.
Additionally, it is now a crime to engage in an activity that is sexual in nature in the presence of a child, causes a child to watch another person engaging in an activity that is sexual in nature, including through visual audio or written, and make a child engage in an activity that is sexual in nature.
The sentence is imprisonment up to 10 years, a fine not exceeding RM20,000, or both.
The act is silent on consent. Presumably, consent is not a defence under this act.
This is understandable because children are deemed incapable of consenting in law, regardless if they did or not.
However, imagine a person who is 19 and has consensual sex with his partner, 17.
While he will not have committed a crime of statutory rape, as under the Penal Code it applies to children below 16, he would have