PETALING JAYA: The Bukit Aman Women and Children Sexual Crime Investigation Division has revealed a total of 18,326 cases involving child victims of sexual crimes were recorded from 2018 to November 2023.
Women’s Centre for Change (WCC) advocacy coordinator Hastiny Subramaniam said 16,447 of the total cases fell under the top three categories of rape, physical sexual assault on a child and incest.
“Despite the efforts and existence of comprehensive laws that address the matter, many cases still go unreported due to a lack of awareness on the dangers of child sexual abuse,” she said, adding that sexual abuse can impact any child regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability or socioeconomic status.
“These intersecting factors contribute to a child’s vulnerability in disclosing sexual abuse and accessing justice. Children from marginalised groups and the stateless are likely to face more obstacles in seeking justice.
“Disable children are also at a higher risk of being sexually abused due to the cognitive and communication challenges.”
Hastiny said perpetrators will take advantage of their disabilities to continue abusing them and often groom their victims, manipulate, exploit their trust and desensitise them through gifts and attention.
She said child sexual abuse may also happen in families, plagued by poverty, substance abuse and domestic violence.
“Parents and guardians often believe child sexual abuse is typically committed by strangers. However, police statistics and WCC data show over 90% of the perpetrators already possess the children’s or family members’ trust, which makes them less likely to be discovered or accused.”
She also said many cases remain unreported because parents assume the child is lying about the abuse or “imagining” it, adding that it is extremely rare for a child to lie about such incidents.
“When children believe they are not being taken seriously, it discourages them from coming forward, leading to the likelihood of the abuse continuing.
“This could also impact the child’s trust in adults and their relationships with peers, fearing that anyone could resemble the perpetrator. Survivors find it difficult to form healthy relationships as they struggle with feelings of mistrust and vulnerability.”
Hastiny emphasised the importance of parents teaching their children the concepts of “good touch” and “bad touch” to ensure their safety and well-being.
“Remind your children they have a right to their bodies and to inform their trusted adults if anyone touches them in a way that makes them uncomfortable.”
United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) Malaysia child protection chief Saskia Blume said children are also prone to experience sexual abuse online, including being blackmailed to engage in sexual activities, having their nude pictures shared without permission and being coerced into engaging in sexual activities through promises of money or gifts.
Unicef Malaysia data reported in 2022 that at least 4% or 100,000 of internet-using children, aged between 12 and 17, have experienced online sexual exploitation and abuse.
Saskia said children experience abuse or other unwanted online interactions of a sexual nature on social media platforms such as Whatsapp, Facebook, WeChat and Telegram.
She said 9% of the children received sexual comments about them, with most of the comments coming from someone they knew.
“Children often get unwanted requests to talk about sex online. Therefore, it is crucial to talk about staying safe online.” -Bernama
