Various child abuse, neglect prevention programmes by govt available to educate society

SHAH ALAM - Various child abuse prevention programmes have been organised by the Women, Community and Family Development Ministry to educate the society.

A spokesperson from the ministry said under the Social Welfare Department (JKM), awareness and educational programmes were carried out to share information to parents and children about prevention of child abuse.

According to the statistics obtained by the ministry, in 2022, as of November, child abuse cases committed by biological mothers remained the highest at 1,051 cases.

Meanwhile, the second highest number of cases involved biological fathers with 543 cases followed by cases involving the child's lovers with 406 cases.

There were 177 cases involving abuse by caregivers recorded.

The programmes by the ministry were aimed at preserving, protecting, rehabilitating and development of children.

Among the programmes held were the "Sahabat Bijak" campaign to protect and keep children safe against any crime which was launched in 2014.

It was an advocacy and legal literacy programme held in collaboration with various government agencies both private sectors and non-governmental organisations.

It was one of the efforts and methods taken by the government to ensure the safety and protection of children from any acts of abuse, persecution, neglect, violence, exploitation.

The programme was held until 2020 in 414 schools across the country with the participation of a total of 96,797 people including primary school and secondary school students, teachers as well as parents especially the Parents and Teachers Association (PIBG).

In 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, a series of webinars related to child safety were conducted through Zoom and Facebook live.

The webinars covered topics such as "Influence of Social Media on Children", "Sexual Crimes against Children" and "Healthy Emotion (and) Self-Love".

A total of 2,500 participants registered for the webinars and almost 15,000 people had watched the live on JKM's Facebook including primary and secondary school students, teachers, parents as well as the public. This programme received an allocation of RM2,920.

On Sept 4, last year, a campaign to combat online sexual crimes towards children was launched to guide children to use social media wisely while raising awareness among parents and the community regarding the use of social media for children.

In the campaign, a cactus was introduced as a symbol of togetherness of community members and the government in dealing with the issue of child sexual crimes.

A Child Safety video was also launched as one of the programme's content. The campaign was held nationwide and implemented by each state's JKM.

The campaign held physically was attended by primary and secondary school students, teachers, parents especially those from the PIBG.

The total number of participants in the campaign was 4,530.

In conjunction with the 2022 Children's Representative Council (MPKK) Conference, an interactive talk campaign to combat online sexual crimes towards children was held on Sept 6, last year.

The campaign provided a platform for children to discuss matters related to the Convention on the Rights of the Child which encompassed life, development, protection and participation of children.

Besides providing exposure on child safety, the event also gave an opportunity to the council members to improve their leadership and directly interact with the Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.