Rohani paints part of the name of Remaja Kafe@Teen Putrajaya Transit Centre to delcare it open. -Bernama photo
PUTRAJAYA: People who fail to report child sexual crimes must also be taken to court for abetting, said Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim.
She said the second tabling of the Child Sexual Offences Bill in the Dewan Rakyat today will also include the offence committed by people who do not report the offences as abetting and will be fined up to RM5,000.
“In fact, if all the family members fail to report the crime, legal action can be taken against all of them,” she told reporters after launching the Remaja Kafe@Teen Putrajaya Transit Centre here yesterday.
Rohani said this would be brought up during the tabling of the Bill as in the past, many cases could not be brought to court because of the inability to get evidence from witnesses.
She added that according to statistics, 80 per cent of sexual crimes against children were committed by people known to the victims.
“The perpetrators include the fathers, brothers, uncles and family friends, and many cases could not be brought to court because the families did not
make reports as they did not want to embarrass the family,” he said.
Rohani said it was sad that the victims could not get justice because their families did not want to be embarrassed.
“I do not want our country to one day become a haven for paedophiles because of the lack of enforcement and awareness which result in our children becoming their victims,” she said.
The Child Sexual Offences Bill 2017 was tabled for the first time in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday.
Among others, the Bill covers offences of child pornography, child sexual grooming, as well as physical and non-physical sexual assaults.
Meanwhile, Rohani said the outreach kafe@teen programme had attracted more than 500,000 teenagers throughout the country, with almost 400,000 joining educational and skills development programmes conducted each year. — Bernama