Dr Kamarudin presents a souvenir to Fatimah. Dev Kumar is on the left and Noriah is on Fatimah’s left.
KUCHING: The Ministry of Welfare, Women and Community Development will be holding a child abuse- and domestic violence-related workshop here this Oct 15-17.
Its aim is to strengthen intra-agency co-operation and strategic partnership in handling such cases.
It is also to help all agencies involved take a relook at their standard operating procedures (SOP) in order to provide fast, efficient and accurate service, said its minister, Datuk Fatimah Abdullah.
“It is not just about treating the victims but also on initiatives to reduce violence against women and children,” she said when closing the three-day One Stop Crisis Centre (OSCC) here yesterday.
On a related matter, Fatimah stressed that those manning OSCCs should not be frequently changed as such changes would further traumatise victims of violence.
“It is important that when someone is appointed to help a victim, make sure that person handles the case until the end. We want people who handle OSCCs to remember to operate from one spot and not move from one place to another,” she said.
On the number of cases of sexual harassment from Jan-Aug, she they were as follows: 2014 (seven cases), 2015 (11 cases) and 2016 (six cases).
As for domestic violence during the same period, the statistics are as follows: 2014 (358 cases), 2015 (281 cases) and 2016 (266 cases); outraging of modesty: 2014 (64 cases), 2015 (61 cases) and 2016 (25 cases); rape: 2014 (143 cases), 2015 (149 cases) and 2016 (83 cases).
“Most of the rape cases were statutory rapes.”
Fatimah added that the number of child abuse cases in the state from Jan-May was as follows: 2014 (18 cases), 2015 (eight cases) and 2016 (15 cases).
Meanwhile, state Health deputy director (Medical) Dr Kamarudin Lajim said the objective of the OSCC seminar was to create greater awareness that child abuse and domestic violence were public concerns, and its prevention needed the cooperation of all stakeholders.
Among those present were Women and Family Department director Noriah Ahmad and state CID chief SAC Dato Dev Kumar.