Vital to ‘believe the child’
SHAH ALAM: Teachers and school administrators who do not report cases of sexual exploitation would be dealt with by the government, says Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.

Action would be initiated under Section 19 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act against educators who sweep such cases under the carpet, she said.

A person who is aware of sexual abuse against a child but does not lodge a police report can be charged and fined up to RM5,000.

“It is an offence if you don’t report it. If you know about it and you don’t report, you can be charged.”

“They should not be worried that action will be taken against them for reporting as the law will protect them,’’ she told reporters after attending the National Convention on the Protection of Pupils from Sexual Exploitation here yesterday.

Azalina said that underreporting was one of the challenges in countering sexual abuse against children.

She made it clear that young sexual assault victims must not be victimised twice: once when they faced the ordeal and again when their complaint is being doubted.

“The main element is to believe the child,’’ said Azalina.

The Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) unit and the Education Ministry also signed a memorandum of understanding to combat underreporting of sexual crimes involving children.

The purpose, said Azalina, was to help teachers and school administrators comprehend Section 19 as well as to encourage them not to look away but instead report cases of sexual abuse against children.

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek warned that teachers who behaved inappropriately by sexually abusing and exploiting their students would be given the boot.

“You touch, you go,’’ she warned, adding that schools must not cover up such cases out of fear that it would tarnish their image and reputation.

“School is the second safest place for students after their home, so teachers must be trained and guided to report such cases that happen in their school,’’ Fadhlina said in her speech at the convention.

Fadhlina added that children must also be given the necessary support to speak up.

She narrated the case of a boy who was sexually exploited by an ustaz but who did not report the assault because he was told it was his duty, as a student, to protect his teacher’s reputation.

The victim also thought that all the knowledge he received from the religious teacher would not be blessed if he were to expose his religious teacher, she recounted.

During a panel discourse at the convention, Bukit Aman Sexual, Women and Child Investigations Division (D11) assistant director Asst Comm Siti Kamsiah Hassan said children made up 70% of all reported sexual abuse cases.

“They are at a high risk of facing sexual crimes because they have a lesser ability to protect themselves and to understand the true nature of the crime,” she said.

ACP Siti Kamsiah said most perpetrators were above 18 years of age, but there have been cases where children were also the culprits.
SHAH ALAM: Teachers and school administrators who do not report cases of sexual exploitation would be dealt with by the government, says Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.