THE Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) is concerned that more children are becoming victims of sexual crimes that do not involve physical contact, such as pornography.
Sexual, Women and Child Investigation Division (D11) principal assistant director ACP Siti Kamsiah Hassan said the division has been getting regular reports on sexual crimes involving child pornography as of late.
In 2020, Bukit Aman’s D11 received 24 reports on sexual crimes which were investigated under Section 509 of the Penal Code for intrusions upon a person’s modesty.
Last year, the number increased to 35. This year, a total of 11 reports were received between January and April.
She attributed this rising trend to the latest advancements in information technology (IT) and widespread access by children to mobile phones and the Internet.
“Online predators will establish a ‘special relationship’ (with the children) and ask for nude photos and videos of the victims,” she told Bernama. “These videos and photos will be spread when the victims no longer want to continue the relationship.
“This crime of sharing, grooming, asking for nude and pornographic photos and videos is becoming to be a trend.”
“Not an easy task”
However, Siti said removing a pornographic picture or video of a child that has been spread on the Internet is not an easy task as it involves the cooperation of various agencies, including Interpol.
“These pictures and videos will first be entered into the Interpol system and a notification will be issued to the countries that share the system to detect if there is a contagion of the pictures or videos in their country,” she explained.
“If there is (a contagion), the pictures need to be taken down.”
She added that the D11 would also inform the relevant social media administrators to remove the pictures or videos that made it on their respective platforms.
The public can also report such instances of sexual crimes directly to non-governmental international organisation Internet Watch Foundation, said Siti.
She further recommended that parents teach their children social etiquette, social boundaries and what can be shared and what cannot, such as intimate pictures or videos about their bodies, in order to prevent sexual crimes involving children.
“Monitoring by parents is also important and the children themselves must have the self-control to prevent them from becoming victims of crime,” she added.
“Most victims of sexual crimes are children”
Meanwhile, Siti revealed that almost 60% of victims of sexual crimes in Malaysia were children.
A total of 4,274 victims of sexual crimes, including rape, gang rape, incest, unnatural sex and molesting cases were recorded in 2020, with 2,567 of them involving children.
Last year, there were 4,031 victims of sexual crimes, of which 2,234 were children. On the other hand, for the first four months of this year, a total of 1,201 victims were recorded, of which 677 were children.
“With children making up 60% of the victims, it (sexual crimes involving children) is something that should be taken seriously because there are various mental and psychological effects that will take effect on children who are victims of sexual crimes,” said Siti.
These include poor social functioning, learning problems, depression, drug abuse, tendencies to become alcoholic and re-victimisation (i.e. being likely to become predators themselves when they grow up or continue to be victims). – Sept 27, 2022
Main photo credit: Knowlaw.in
