BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Child abuse is a global problem with an estimation of 22,320 homicide deaths under 10 years and 31 thousand more among children under 15 years, according to the World Health Organisation, Borneo Bulletin reported.
In view of this, Brunei Darussalam is not exempted from suffering violence and child abuse in which the number of children whO are victims of violence and abuse is on the rise.
Although the number of victims of abuse is not great here but the concern is that almost all types of child abuse can be seen, including physical abuse, emotional abuse, abandonment, neglect and sexual abuse.
This was highlighted by Dr Hjh Norlila binti Dato Paduka Hj Abdul Jalil, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health, during the Children Protection Workshop held at Rizqun International Hotel yesterday.
She said that knowledge and experience available at this time in the management of these cases, state that the problem of child abuse is a complex issue and protecting these children has become a challenge.
However, she reminded audience that “we will not escape from the responsibility of protecting our children because they are our future and if we fail to protect them, we will fail as a nation”.
She further stated that Brunei has a variety of laws designed to protect children in particular the Children and Young Persons Act 2006, Dharar Syar’ie, Compulsory Education Order and Order Compulsory Religious Education.
In addition, Brunei also signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1983 and Brunei has established a. task force on Child Protection, ATOCP, about 20 years ago where the protection of children requires approaches and participation in cooperative multi-agency and integrated well.
Dr Hjh Norlila also said that child abuse can harm their physical, emotional, psychological, cognitive and social development which can cause disability or death.’
According to studies, it has been proven that children with bad experiences are the basis of risk factors for disease and early deaths as well as those who have been abused will more likely to smoke, drink, abuse drugs or addictive substances, engage in unlawful sex and do not care about their health.
Therefore, Dr Hjh Norlila welcome strong and active cooperation of all the agencies involved, including health, welfare, legal, education, and police Sharrah where they can provide the best care and protection to children.
At the same time, she called for cooperation between existing agencies to be further strengthened by establishing guidelines and standards of practice. This is for the need to provide data gathering, audit and research in the field of child protection where it can be used in decision-making processes and to prioritise in terms of planning and intervention services.