Meeting held to discuss enforcement of Section 19 of Act 792

PUTRAJAYA - A meeting was held today to discuss strategies to enforce clauses related to Section 19 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 [Act 792], said Law and Institutional Reform Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.

The meeting was attended by, among others, representatives of the Attorney General’s Chambers, judiciary, Royal Malaysia Police, Children’s Commissioner, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam).

Azalina said the meeting was held in response to the statement she made yesterday regarding the need to increase public awareness of Section 19 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act.

"The Unity Government is committed to all aspects of children’s affairs, particularly child protection, and will not tolerate any party that implicitly or explicitly mistreats children,” she said in a statement today.

In yesterday’s statement, Azalina said that anyone who is aware of sexual abuse against children but fails to report it to the police could be charged in court and fined up to RM5,000 if convicted.

She said in an effort to curb sexual offences against children, enforcement needed to be firm, including charging those close to the victims like teachers, neighbours, who may have been aware of such an incident, under Section 19 of the Act.

So far, nobody has been charged under the Act, Azalina added. - BERNAMA