child abuse

Report information on child abuse or face imprisonment, says deputy minister

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Source: The Malay Mail Online

KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 — Three groups of individuals with information on child abuse are reminded to report it to the authorities or face imprisonment and fines if they fail to do so, said Deputy Women, Family and Development Minister Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun.

Azizah said the obligation was contained under the Child Act 2001 involving individuals comprising registered medical officers, family members and child minders.

She said under Section 27, 28 and 29 of the amended act, a registered medical practitioner or medical officer, any family members and child minder on reasonable grounds that the child has been physically or emotionally abused as a result of being tortured, neglected, abandoned, exposed or sexually abused must immediately notify the relevant parties.

“If they fail to report, they are liable to be convicted of imprisonment or fine (fine not exceeding RM5,000 or jail not exceeding two years or both),” she said during the question-and-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat sitting here today. Read more →

Child sex victims need long-term help, NGO says

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Source: Free Malaysia Today

Agape Vision says failure to do so could see the victims being exposed to a host of life issues including revictimisation.

AFP pic

PETALING JAYA: An NGO working with underprivileged and at-risk youth in the country has warned of the long-term side effects that child sex abuse victims could face if they are left untreated.

Agape Vision founder Gillian Valerie Chong said it was crucial that victims received continued therapy.

“The children need therapeutic intervention as soon as possible and throughout their lives, even into adulthood, when they feel they need it,” she told FMT.

She added that the failure to provide such therapy could expose the victim to a host of problems with long-term effects. Read more →

Four teens tricked into sex trade rescued

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Source: The Star

KOTA KINABALU: Four teenage immigrants who came to Sabah with their families in search of work thought they had landed decent jobs – only to be pressed into the sex trade.

The four, three girls and a boy, were rescued after they were detained in a raid on an entertainment outlet at Cybercity near here at 2am on Feb 7.

City police chief Asst Comm M. Chandra said the victims, who worked as guest relations officers, were forced to provide sexual services to clients upon request.

He said the girls are aged 15, 17 and 18, while the boy is 16.

Read more →

Malaysia tops in South-East Asia for online child pornography

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Source: The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has the highest number of IP addresses uploading and downloading photographs and visuals of child pornography in South-East Asia, authorities have said.

The number of children falling prey to perpetrators whom they befriended online is also reportedly increasing fast.

Many Malaysian parents let their children use handphones without monitoring them, and more than 60% of children spend time in online chatrooms on the Internet on a daily basis.

Data shows that close to 20,000 IP addresses in Malaysia upload and download photographs and visuals of child pornography and that the country ranks top in South-East Asia in this regard.

Read more →

Not One More Child: Dealing with Sex Crimes Against Children in Malaysia

Nur Farzana Md Yusof

Source: The Diplomat 

On September 8, 2017, with his head bowed low to avoid the press, a father was led into Malaysia’s Special Criminal Court on Sexual Crimes Against Children to hear his sentence for 623 counts of sexual abuse and sodomy. The man, whose victim was his own 15-year old daughter, was sentenced to 48 years in prison and 24 strokes of the cane.

This case is one of a growing number of incest cases in Malaysia. It comes on the heels of criticism leveled against Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Rohani Abdul Karim who, in a written reply to a parliamentary question stated that a 16-year old who was raped when she was 12, dropped out of school, and is currently living with her parents, was “doing fine.” The rapist, who is serving time in prison, married the girl on the back of the rape to avoid prosecution, drawing the ire of many Malaysians and exposing an inherent weakness in the law.

These two cases are not by any means isolated. Here are some numbers: on July 28, 2017, Minister Rohani reported that 13,272 children reported having been raped between 2010 and May 2017. Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) data shows that between 2014 and 2016, 11.8 percent of all sexual offenses against children were cases of incest. Of that, 50.7 percent of cases reported pointed toward a father or stepfather as the perpetrator. Read more →

Rohani says 581 child abuse cases reported from 2015 until June

Nur Farzana Md Yusof

Source: The Malay Mail Online 

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 — A total of 581 child abuse cases involving child caregivers were reported from 2015 until June this year, said Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim.

She said according to statistics from the Welfare Department, 146 of these cases occurred from early this year until June.

“Action in the form of written directives were taken against 32 nurseries while seven nurseries had their premises sealed off, 14 nurseries were issued with compounds, four were ordered to be closed temporarily, 52 had their registration terminated and another two were prosecuted within that period.

“My ministry views seriously cases of child abuse and neglect that occur in various places, including in nurseries,” she said when closing the Kindergarten at Home special workshop, aimed at ensuring all nurseries are registered with the ministry, in Putrajaya today.

She said most cases of accidents that occurred in the nurseries were those that were unregistered and arising from the caregivers having not attended the PERMATA Early Childhood Teaching and Care Course (KAP).

61pc sexual crime victims are children, minister says

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Source: The Malay Mail Online

KUALA LUMPUR, May 26 —  As many as 61 per cent of the 12,926 sexual crime cases reported over the past three years involved children, said Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim.

She said this situation was serious as the children would grow up with negative psychological effects.

“The ministry will work closely with the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) to tackle the issue of domestic violence and child abuse and play our part in rehabilitating the victims so that they can continue with their lives as normal as possible, if not better,” she said. Read more →

Tahfiz school ignores angry netizens over student’s death

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Source: The Malay Mail Online

KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 ― A Johor religious school said it did not have to entertain public outrage on the internet over a student’s beating by an assistant warden that allegedly resulted in the amputation of his legs and death.

The management of Madrasah Tahfiz Al-Jauhar (MTAJ), a school based in Kota Tinggi that teaches memorisation of the Quran, also said the word “abuse” might not accurately depict the situation.

“MTAJ does not have to entertain netizens who are too full of suspicion because 97 per cent of them have never dealt with MTAJ and are only talking and writing based on perceptions and sentiments that have been played up,” MTAJ management said on its Facebook page yesterday.

Screenshot of the Faceook Post made by the Madrasah Tahfiz Al-Jauhar (MTAJ.)

“MTAJ will take all suggestions into account for further action. MTAJ only needs to apologise to netizens for our inability to answer all questions,” it added. Read more →

Another student claims abuse in religious school

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Source: The Star Online

Painful experience: Suraya Fatima (left) showing Muhammad Resan’s scars to lawyer Gerard Lazarus during the press conference in Klang. Looking on is the boy’s father, M.D. Ekramul. Pic from the Star Online.

Painful experience: Suraya Fatima (left) showing Muhammad Resan’s scars to lawyer Gerard Lazarus during the press conference in Klang. Looking on is the boy’s father, M.D. Ekramul. Pic from the Star Online.

KLANG: Another case of a beating in a religious school has surfaced with an 11-year-old boy claiming an ustaz (religious teacher) in a private religious boarding school had abused him and threatened him with more punishment if he complained to his parents.

“He also said my brain would not be able to memorise the Quran if I complained about an ustaz,” said Muhammad Resan Abdullah.

The ustaz has since been charged in court but after reading about the fate that had be­fallen Mohamad Thaqif Amin Mohd Gadaffi, his parents engaged a lawyer yesterday to re-examine the case. Read more →

When Malaysian school authorities use the rod… and physically harm children

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Source: The Malay Mail Online

A school boy walks past a street mural depicting a school bus and students in Shah Alam, January 2, 2014. — Reuters pic.

A school boy walks past a street mural depicting a school bus and students in Shah Alam, January 2, 2014. — Reuters pic.

KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 — An assistant hostel warden’s beating of an Islamic religious student which resulted in the amputation of the 11-year-old’s legs and his subsequent death on Wednesday may well be the most severe abuse case in schools in recent years.

Alleged abuses of schoolchildren by adults entrusted to teach and care for them have ranged from verbal to physical hurt to degrading treatment and public humiliation.

Here is a list of selected cases where students were reportedly abused: Read more →