This State In Malaysia Recorded The Highest Number Of Child Rape Cases In The Last 7 Years
A total of 2,089 children were raped there between 2010 and May 2017.
By Nandini Balakrishnan — 28 Jul 2017, 08:08 AM
13,272 children have reportedly been raped in Malaysia between 2010 and May 2017, and the state that recorded the highest number of child rape cases is Johor
In a report by Malaysiakini, Women, Family, and Community Development Minister Rohani Abdul Karim, revealed that 2,089 children were raped in Johor during that time frame. That's 15.7% of the total number of child rape cases in the past seven years.
In total, 22,134 children were sexually abused from 2010 until May 2017.
In that time frame, there were also 6,014 molestation cases, 1,796 cases of incest, and 1,152 cases of unnatural sex. Unnatural sex is punishable under Section 377 of the Penal Code for carnal intercourse against the order of nature.
Selangor, on the other hand, had the most number of molestation and unnatural sex cases at 1,052 and 235, respectively
Women, Family, and Community Development Minister Rohani Abdul Karim
Image via Choo Choy May/Malay Mail OnlineThe victims involved in all these cases were minors under the age of 18. The age of consent for sex in Malaysia is 16. So, having consensual sex with a person under the age of 16 is considered statutory rape under the Malaysian laws.
Rohani revealed these information when speaking at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, 27 July. She mentioned that the numbers were from police statistics, as reported by the English daily.
Out of the 22,134 child sexual abuse cases, child rape cases were the highest at 13,272 (59.7%), followed by 6,014 (27.04%) molestation cases, 796 cases (8.07%) of incest, and 1,052 cases involving unnatural sex, reported Free Malaysia Today on 27 July.
"Most of the victims were girls," added Rohani, when responding to PKR Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin's question on statistics for abuse cases involving minors between 2010 and 2016
Rohani also mentioned that there were 2,244 cases of non-sexual physical violence cases recorded against minors.
In their efforts to address these abuse cases against children, the government recently amended the Child Act and introduced the Child Sexual Offences Act.
A Special Child Sexual Crimes Court was also launched on 22 June to handle sexual crimes against children.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the launch of a special court to deal with cases involving sexual crimes against children on 22 June in Putrajaya.
Image via Fariz Iswadi Ismail/NSTThe newly-launched court will hear cases that occur in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, and Putrajaya but the government is looking into establishing one in every state.
"God willing, we will set up this (special) court to all states in stages," said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, after launching the court, as reported by New Straits Times.
Talking about the special court, Rohani said that it will give the victims a sense of security as the victims and perpetrators will be separated during court proceedings in this special court
"They won't feel afraid. Sometimes they see their rapists and they can't even talk. Which is why we've set up the special court, to curb their fears," she explained, as reported by Malaysiakini.
In addition to this, the minister also said that the Women, Family, and Community Development Ministry has been running various programmes to educate children on how to protect themselves from sexual crimes.