Increasing number of incest cases casts doubt on awareness programs

KUCHING: The number of incest cases in the state which seems to be on the increase has set the alarm bells ringing as to the effectiveness of the current awareness programmes.

Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah pointed out that the awareness programmes were mainly carried out by the government, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and various religious bodies.

“Obviously we have not been able to reach out to more people. Can we depend solely on the government or the NGOs (to deter sexual crimes)? These are the things that we will be discussing at the 3rd Women and Family Council meeting tomorrow (today),” said Fatimah yesterday.

Speaking to reporters after the official launch of the ‘Pameran Raja Kita dan Dirgahayu’ by the Yang diPertua Negeri Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud at Plaza Merdeka here yesterday, Fatimah added that the meeting would be attended by the police who would provide the latest statistics on sexual crimes, especially against children.

According to her, incest is very tragic as the rapist could be the father, grandfather or uncle of the victim, persons whom the victim looks up to as her guardian.

“Due to the close relationship, lodging a police report will take a lot of courage on the victim’s part,” said Fatimah, adding that the victim would normally ponder and feel guilty for putting her own family member(s) in jail.

Sometimes, she added, the mother of the victim knew what was happening but held back from making a report for fear of losing the family’s breadwinner or provider.

“The decision that she has to make is very difficult especially when choosing to either protect her child or her husband. This is not an easy choice under this kind of circumstances,” she pointed out.

On another note, Fatimah said there were actually two ways of dealing with sexual crimes - intervention and having a support system.

“I am glad that we already have a strong support system for the victims and a good standard operating procedure (SOP) within the relevant agencies to ensure that once a victim lodges a report, a fast response and efficient action can be taken,” said Fatimah, who is also Dalat assemblywoman.

Cases of sexual crimes, she added, start with the complaint which leads to an investigation, arrest and court hearings which have now been expedited to give the public more confidence in the police after making a report.