Expose scale of crime to tackle it effectively
REFERENCE is made to the report “Malaysia tops in South-East Asia for online child pornography” (The Star, Jan 30).
As a father of two young girls, this is very worrying news. Knowing that there is a high concentration of perverted individuals who see our children as sexual objects or prey is frightening. It would be even more frightening if these individuals have formed communities! Imagine a community of perverts preying on children!
This finding could be symptomatic of something more sinister in our country – and perhaps something which we may not want to acknowledge nor discuss given our conservative cultural slant and moral policing.
I am referring to widespread child sexual grooming/ abuse and even organised child prostitution syndicates. If the child pornography internet traffic is high, it does not take a rocket scientist to tell us that such abhorrent activities exist!
The expose by The Star team last year on child grooming was indeed an eye-opener. The recent story of the child molester in Kedah was somewhat graphic but a necessary wake-up call, too. The media and authorities should pursue the issue further to see how far these findings go. Perhaps it would be helpful to get the assistance of NGOs who are front-liners in dealing with these issues.
The findings may not be pretty but if these dark activities are fully exposed, I believe we as a society can then be aware and figure out how to deal with them and the authorities can act accordingly.
While the child victims may come from all levels of society, there is a high possibility that those in the lower income levels and afflicted by poverty could be most affected – and all of us should be their voice. There are monsters in our midst and they should know that their time is up. And if these monsters are organised, our authorities and legal framework must be ready to take them down!
Their victims are children who need us adults to look out for them. Let us do what is right. As much as it may bruise our image as a conservative society, we have to deal with it. Please save the children!