Cultural view of children as property of parents a bane to child protection laws

SHAH ALAM - People tend to look at children as cattle or commodity of the parent, which complicates the implementation and enforcement of laws regarding child protection, experts say.

Yayasan Chow Kit founder Datuk Dr Hartini Zainudin said children are seen not just as objects, but as property of parents and therefore the responsibilities or ownership of children in some ways lie with parents.

She elaborated that this issue was brought to her attention when a child made a comment on how children do not have the right to vote, so people just do not care.

"That is a very cynical, truthful, painful comment made by a 10-year-old who tells me children do not vote, so nobody really cares," she said.

Universiti Malaya senior law lecturer Dr Farah Nini Dusuki said a country may have the best laws in the world, but may not be enforcing it to the best interest of the children.

"We do have policies, we even have a comprehensive law but we have issues in effective implementation and enforcement of the law," she said.

She explained that this is because of how people tended to perceive children.

Children were persons in their own right but when a law needs to be enforced, the children's best interest is not prioritised, she said.

"We talk about safety for instance. Is it really safety we are concerned about or convenience of parents?" she questioned.

Unicef Child Protection Chief Saskia Blume said that Malaysia is overall a very child-friendly society which is very different from the European contex.

She pointed out that there is however, a major difference in the investment into keeping children safe.

"What has been lagging behind in terms of the child protection system in Malaysia is the investment needed towards the social service workforce, and a more child-friendly justice system," she said.

Former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan gave example in that many children have been the victims of neglect by the parents themselves.

"For example, a single mother who lives with her boyfriend will tend to not care about her children," he said.

"In fact, many cases like this happen where the child is being abused by the stepfather or the boyfriend himself," he added.

"It is stated in the law that if you neglect a child, you expose them to danger and it is an offence. However, if we do not enforce the law strictly, we cannot ensure the child would be safe," he stated.