Child sexual abuse is a very serious and prevalent problem affecting countries all over the world. Despite widespread efforts to spread awareness and campaign for better laws, there still aren’t enough policies that effectively protect these vulnerable young children.
What’s even worse is when a country’s government does not acknowledge reports and statistics about this serious issue – how can a nation progress and better protect their children this way?
In an interview with The Malaysian Insight, Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail shared that she was deeply affected after learning about the lack of policies protecting children in Malaysia from sexual abuse.
Source: The Malaysian Insight
She told the daily,
“These are things considered taboo to be discussed, yet, we must get this out in the open. If you see tell-tale signs, you cannot turn a blind eye. That message must get across strongly – save the children.”
Wan Azizah, who is also the Minister of Women, Family, and Community Development, revealed that she had recently learnt about a shocking study which found a whopping 20,000 sexual abuse cases involving children in the country. Perhaps the most disturbing finding was that a good number of the sexual offenders were often adults close to the children (i.e., family members and religious teachers).
The study, which was conducted by Protect and Save the Children more than 10 years ago, was classified under the Official Secrets Act by the former Barisan Nasional government.
Currently, DPM Wan Azizah is working on getting this document declassified and has told the daily that the police are investigating the report, saying,
“The victims would have grown up by now. We need an update.”
“Children are our future. We are supposed to protect them. This is the failure of our system. It’s a grave injustice. It has become a stigma that people just sweep under the carpet.”
Source: The Asian Parent
Indeed, Malaysia still has a long way to go when it comes to protecting vulnerable children. The most recent abuse case that shocked the world was that of Englishman Richard Huckle, who came to Malaysia posing as an English and Sunday school teacher.
He reportedly abused up to 200 young children aged between 6 months and 12 years on top of uploading 20,000 photographs and videos of himself doing these heinous acts onto the dark web. He had even written a 60-page “guide” for pedophiles.
Let’s hope that more will be done to protect our children and ensure that they grow up in a safe and healthy environment under our new government.
Also read: English Teacher Raped and Sexually Abused Malaysian Children, Even Wrote Guide for Pedophiles
