KOTA BHARU - The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry is planning to take strict action towards blocking access to pornography on social media in its efforts to eradicate sexual offences involving children.
Its deputy minister Aiman Athirah Sabu said the public must be given awareness and attention towards the rise of sexual offence cases among children.
"We require the technology and it continues to be difficult to control pornographic material in this medium.
"It is necessary to block such websites from continuously being accessible at any time thus preventing room for such crimes,” she said during a press conference after the 2023 Kelantan International Women’s Day Carnival (Hawa), here on Friday.
Athirah said the ministry is cooperating closely withthe Malaysia Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the police primarily in the Sexual, Abuse and Child Investigation Division (D11) for the same purpose.
"The ministry will continue to monitor any space or factors that could lead to crimes in order to overcome this rampant issue.
"Responsibility does not only fall on our ministry but other ministries as it is the community’s role,” she said.
The media had reported on Thursday that sexual crimes involving children and women in the country had increased to 12,890 last year compared to 11,092 cases in 2020.
Thesecases included rape, fornication, incest, harassment, molestation and sexual intercourse with children, child abuse, child abandonment and domestic violence.