Cold truth about sexual crime

ACCORDING to a special report by Reuters, “How Malaysia allows child abuse to go unpunished”, released last week, data obtained from the Malaysian police showed that almost 13,000 cases of child sexual abuse were reported between January 2012 and July 2016 in this country. Charges were filed in only 2,189 cases, resulting in a paltry 140 convictions. The justifications behind the low conviction rate were not disclosed in the report but these should not be speculated upon.

Nevertheless, the number of cases recorded is staggering and highly disturbing, especially considering that there may be many more that have gone unreported or have fallen through the cracks due to a range of factors including hesitance on the part of victims’ families to report such transgressions and a victim-blaming culture that tragically, continues to dog the issue.

It is worth noting that data on child sexual abuse is protected under the Official Secrets Act and can only be provided at the request of a member of parliament. The head of the Sexual, Women and Children Investigation Division of the Royal Malaysia Police was quoted in the article stating that the reason behind Malaysia’s reluctance to publish the data was due to government concern that the figures may be misinterpreted and cause undue alarm among the public.

I have to respectfully disagree with the division’s stand on the matter. The public should indeed be concerned, and rightfully so. While creating unnecessary panic in society should be avoided at all costs where possible, it is nevertheless still extremely crucial for Malaysians to be very much aware of something as serious as child sexual abuse for it continues to occur at an alarming rate within our midst. Trying to keep such a critical issue under wraps only serves to exacerbate the problem, making it an even more difficult subject to shine the spotlight on.

We are currently failing miserably at protecting the young of this country. The most heinous, despicable crimes continue to be carried out against children in Malaysia, and we still appear to be dragging our feet on the issue. Current systems and processes that are in place to tackle child sexual abuse, while intended to be effective, are clearly based on the data that have been thus far provided, falling significantly short of achieving its aim.

Adequate and appropriate mechanisms must be expedited into effect immediately in order for us to have any hope of combating the issue effectively. A more sustainable framework must be urgently implemented to make it more accessible for victims to come forward and seek support as well as assistance. Heavier penalties, truly corresponding with the despicable crimes committed, must be imposed upon current offenders and be simultaneously used to send a very strong message to deter potential predators. More importantly, victims must be provided with timely as well as sufficient justice and recourse.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman’s recently set-up task force to review child protection laws is a positive step, as are the extensive efforts by a number of pressure groups and NGOs who continue to strive unceasingly to end child sexual abuse. But we cannot rely solely on them. Child sexual abuse should be a primary concern for all of us because the consequences have severe repercussions on society as a whole.

So we must all do our part and step up to take on an integral role in tackling child sexual abuse in this country. We must educate ourselves extensively on how best to prevent our children from becoming victims of sexual abuse.

Remember that paedophiles and predators can come in all different forms – male, female, educated, illiterate, professional, unemployed, dark-skinned, fair-toned, religious, atheist, rich, poor, family member, friend or stranger. Awareness is key to stopping the dire statistics from increasing further.

One abused child is one too many. We must put an end to child sexual abuse immediately.