Child sexual crimes rise in Sabah
Published on: Saturday, November 23, 2019
By: Johan Aziz
File photo from Bernama.
KENINGAU: The increase in the number of child sexual crimes in Sabah from time to time is not only in urban but also rural or interior areas, said Commissioner of Police Datuk Omar Mammah (pic).He said Sabah’s sexual crime statistics so far this year showed an increase of 374 cases compared to 302 cases last year.ADVERTISEMENT
“These cases include rape, incest, outrage, disgrace and obscene,” he said when closing the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) Sabah Contingent Sexual Crimes Awareness Campaign held at Keningau Campus Teacher Education Institute, here.
He said the Sabah police sexual crime awareness campaign was a major effort by police in reducing crime rates involving children and adolescents.
Omar said the campaign was aimed at exposing students and the community to aspects of child crime prevention and understanding of law enforcement in the context of creating a harmonious and peaceful society.
The campaign also provided basic knowledge to children and the public on legal aspects of litigation and preventive measures in dealing with cases of sexual crime, in particular in Sabah.ADVERTISEMENT
He said the involvement of community leaders, educators and students is important and has become a medium for communicating knowledge of sexual crime to the local community. Cases spanned a wide range of ages, especially that of teenagers and children are very alarming.
“If we understand the definition of child sexual abuse, it refers to any individual behaviour that forces, misleads or intimidates children into inducing sexual relation with the perpetrator to satisfy sexual desire.
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“This sexual crime has a wide range of understandings that include not only rape but also sexual acts, incest, outrage, sodomy, obscene and disgrace.
“Crime among children and teenagers today will give impact on individuals, families, communities and the country,” he said.
Touching on criminal cases, Omar said the involvement of teenagers and children, including students, in crime behaviour and misconduct, as often expressed through the media, should be taken seriously.
He said early exposure to sexual crime should start from the family institution itself and play an important role for parents and guardians to convey knowledge to children.
Efforts should be intensified, including at the school level and higher education institutes, to study the root causes of this problem and to give them guidance and awareness on the negative effects of criminal behaviour not only on society but on the future of the individual and the country.
“Due to the rising number of child sexual abuse cases and the growing public interest in the community, the Government and the authorities are intensely concerned about the issue involving these children until Parliament has enacted a new law, the Sexual Offences Act on Children 2017, effective July 10, 2017.
“This Act applies to any victim under the age of 18 and it is punishable by a higher penalty for each offence.”
However, he said this would be extremely difficult to achieve if the people were afraid to approach the police.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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“The whole community is welcome to be the eyes and ears of the police, whether by coming to the police station or channelling any information via telephone.”
Nearly 1,000 people, including Sabah Contingent Police Crime Investigation Department Head and Campaign Coordinator, SAC Jauteh Dikun, senior police officers of the Sabah Contingent Headquarters and Keningau Police Headquarters, heads of state and federal government departments, community and religious leaders, teachers and students from Keningau, Tenom, Tambunan and Nabawan attended the one-day event.