THE COVID-19 pandemic and the various movement control orders (MCO) pose a tough time for everyone, but some people are having it worse. Yes, we are talking about child abuse victims who are locked in with their abusers.
In November 2020, for instance, police detained a 16-year-old girl who was trying to leave Kuala Lumpur without a permit during the MCO period. Upon questioning, they discovered that she was trying to get to her mother in Kedah because her father – who gained custody of her a year ago – had been sexually abusing her for months.
This is only one of many.
In the first six months of 2020, there were a total of 1,721 cases of sexual crimes against children, said Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff.
What is distressing is the fact that in 95% of the cases, their sexual abusers are people known to them. Most of the time the abusers are their fathers or stepfathers.
“In Malaysia, the primary abuser is the father. The second primary abuser is the father and the third primary abuser is also the father,” Datuk Dr Amar Singh, a consultant paediatrician who has worked with sexually abused children for over three decades, told The Star.
Unlike rape, which may be an isolated act of violence, sexual abuse is often recurrent.
“The child complies because they are under [the abuser’s] control. It is very hard to refuse your father. Children are told to listen to adults,” Dr Amar added.
But while there are laws that safeguard children from sexual violence, Suriana Welfare Society Chairman James Nayagam offers an interesting argument. “[The perpetrators] get charged, but how many get convicted? It’s still an uphill battle.”
After all, without proper evidence it is a child’s word against an adult’s, and how many people will actually believe the child?
Amid numbers that keep rising, this begs the question: beyond amendments to the legislations and awareness campaigns that empower the victims to speak up rather than suffering in silence, are we doing enough to address this problem?
In this case, clichéd as it might be, knowledge is truly power and equipping children with the necessary knowledge is the key.
There need to be a more comprehensive sex education syllabus and fewer taboos on sexual education in the country.
Moreover, studies previously indicated that children who have been taught the signals of impending sexual abuse and have learned specific safety behaviours may be less likely to fall prey to such traumas.
More importantly, children need to be taught what is right and wrong, and what to do when confronted with sexual predators, especially if these predators wear the faces of the people that they know and trust. – March 10, 2021
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