Set up sex offender registry

It should not be public knowledge, says Unicef

Unicef: Privacy need not be compromised.

KUALA LUMPUR: A sex offender registry can be set up without compromising the offender’s privacy, says a Unicef Malaysia representative.

“It should not be public knowledge but those who have access to it are the social welfare and the law enforcement,” said Marianne ClarkHattingh.

“And employers will have to do the checking with a body that has access to the database,” she added during the Violence-free early childhood forum here yesterday.

Recently, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Nur Jazlan Mohamed said the Government delayed setting up a national registry to track convicted sex offenders out of concern it might infringe on the perpetrator’s privacy.

He said the concern was raised by the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

Some government agencies too expressed reservations on the need for such a registry. And, the police said they had their own criminal records.

Clark-Hattingh said there was a general consensus that such a registry should be put in place and it should be a central one, as there was no benefit in having a separate one by the ministries and the police.

She added that there were many models around the world that implemented such a registry.

On the argument that the sex offenders should not be discriminated against after they had been rehabilitated, she said an alcoholic could have been rehabilitated but that “one would not want the person to work in a store with alcohol”.

“Even when someone is rehabilitated, it would still be risky,” ClarkHattingh said.

“Why would the person still want to work with children? There are many other jobs.”

Datuk Dr Chiam Heng Keng, a member of the committee that is looking into the setting up of the registry under the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry said a sex offender registry was provided for under the Child’s Act.

The need for it had been discussed for years and the ministry was in favour of it but some parties felt that the registry could be abused while others felt it was not fair for the offender to be condemned for life after serving his sentence.

UN special representative of the secretary-general on violence against children Marta Santos Pais said screening professionals dealing with children, such as teachers, early childhood educators, had brought down incidents of sexual abuse in countries that implemented it.

“The problem is not so much to make the registry public but for the authorities to have a database that allows them to check if a person has done something wrong or is under investigation,” she said.