Govt to improve reporting mechanism for sexual crimes against children

PETALING JAYA: A more effective and child-friendly reporting mechanism for sexual crimes will be developed by the government.

This is because there has been a significant rise in these crimes against children over the past seven years, ministers Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said and Fadhlina Sidek said in a joint statement on Tuesday (Jan 9).

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Azalina, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), and Fadhlina, the Education Minister, said there were 6,990 such crimes reported from 2017 up to last year.

There were 1,570 child victims of sexual crime last year alone, they added.

“The government is well aware that the numbers may not reveal the totality of the situation as a result of under-reporting.

“This remains a challenge especially when police statistics reveal that 80% of perpetrators are known to the victims.

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“As such, the whole of society has a responsibility to protect children from being victims of sexual crimes,” they added.

Azalina and Fadhlina also held a joint meeting to discuss measures to protect children and said a widespread awareness campaign involving all relevant agencies and sectors will be launched soon.

Its aim is to inculcate a sense of responsibility in society to report sexual crimes against children.

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“This campaign will use the ‘training the trainers’ approach, whereby teachers and community leaders will be trained to effectively detect and report cases of sexual crimes against children in a school environment.

“Section 19 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 clearly states that failure to report is a crime,” they added.