Tedious procedures, safety concerns hamper reporting
TEDIOUS procedures and safety concerns are among the reasons preventing many people, especially teachers, from reporting child abuse cases.
A school’s action and flowchart in dealing with cases of abuse sighted by the New Straits Times showed that teachers will have to prepare a report for the Education District Office and set up a task force to investigate the allegation.
The NST heard of one case where the school principal had passed on the task of reporting a child abuse case to a camp organiser.
The principal had sent an 11year-old student, who was abused by his parents, to a motivational camp organised by Juliana Sawarin, who is secretary of the Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association Education and Training Secretariat.
She said the boy had old and new bruises on his body, which he hid by wearing a jacket.
“We had wondered why the boy was sent to our camp.
“We talked to the school principal and he told us that they were hoping that we would notice the injuries and help the boy.
“Apparently, the principal had met the boy’s parents, who admitted to causing the injuries.
“They promised not to repeat, but unfortunately the beating did not stop,” she said.
Asked why the school did not lodge a report, Juliana said there were too many procedures involved, including safety concerns.
“It involves the Education District Office and the state Education Department before
a case reaches the police. Teachers have a lot on their plate, so that is why some cases were overlooked. Some may be scared for the safety of the school and their own.”
In the case of the 11-year-old boy, she said rescuing him was not easy.
She claimed that the police’s standard operating procedure on child abuse cases was too complicated, adding that it might jeopardise the safety of the victims.
“I lodged a report and brought along photographic evidence, hoping that police would act faster and save the boy who was, at that time, in the care of his parents.
“Police said they could not remove the boy from the care of his parents as it would be considered kidnapping.
“We had wanted them (police) to save the boy, who would surely have got further beatings from his parents after knowing that a report had been lodged against them.” Former National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) president Hashim Adnan said teachers might not want to get involved in such cases, including disciplinary ones, for fear of legal action.
NUTP president Kamarozaman Abd Razak said the lack of cooperation between some quarters in the Welfare Department made handling such cases difficult.
“Schools should report such cases to the Welfare Department, but in some districts, the department’s offices are not that cooperative because they don’t have enough staff.”