Experts’ suggestions for the new bill

HERE are some suggestions for the child sexual crimes bill ahead of its tabling in Parliament next week.

Laws against child marriages

Despite Malaysia having adopted a United Nations’ resolution to end child marriage in 2013, child marriages are still allowed under special provisions of the syariah courts.

“We should outlaw child marriages because sexual intercourse with a girl under 16 is still considered a sexual crime against children according to the Penal Code,” said Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching.

Sex offender registry

Sharmila Sekaran, chairperson of Voice of The Children, suggested creating a sex offender registry. “It should also be mandatory for all bodies, organisations and schools that work with children to find out whether a prospective employee is on the registry,” she said.

Redefining rape

Datuk Ilani Mohd Ibrahim confirmed that the new bill will broaden the definition of rape to other body parts, but there are still other aspects that could be included, specifically the use of objects, said Srividhya Ganapathy, member of the Bar Council Child Rights Committee.

“The current definition of rape is only restricted to unwanted penile intercourse with a woman. It does not cover boys (as victims) or objects,” she said.

According to the old definition of rape, boys cannot possibly be victims, but as statistics from the Royal Malaysian Police show, there were a total of 422 reported cases of seks luar tabii (unnatural sex) from 2015 to 2016, which include male victims.

Widening the scope of child sexual crimes

The new bill should also cover other types of child sexual offences apart from rape, especially online and offline sexual grooming, said Sharmila. “The reality is that children have been exposed to certain things earlier and with the whole grooming process, they eventually consent to the sex. Sometimes they’re even told they won’t get pregnant and they believe it,” said Sharmila.