KUALA KANGSAR, May 7 — Efforts are already ongoing to combat the rise in statutory rapes disclosed by the Royal Malaysia Police’s Criminal Investigation Department, said Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek.
Saying her ministry was aware of the new data, Fadhlina said it was a grave problem and measures were already being explored to curb the issue.
“We have been working closely with the Women, Family, and Community Development Ministry and the Legal Affairs Division (law) of the Prime Minister’s Department on the advocacy programmes for sexual harassment.
“We have also recently held a convention on anti-sexual harassment involving both the Education and Law Ministries,” she told a press conference at the Universiti Sultan Azlan Shah (USAS) here.
Yesterday, Bukit Aman’s CID director Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain expressed concern over the reported rise in statutory rape cases nationwide since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
He said it was worrying because the perpetrators and victims in some cases were both minors who did not view their acts as criminal due to mutual consent.
However, he stressed that minors could not legally consent even if the acts were voluntary.
Today, Fadhlina said her ministry also contributed to the guideline on the management of sexual harassment at the education institutions.
“We have introduced the ‘safe sport code’ training for the teachers and students, specially for sport related activities, in order the children can do the activities safely without any sexual disturbance.
“What we wanted is that the children to believe that the place where they lodge a report on sexual harassment is safe,” she added.
Fadhlina then reiterated that the ministry will not compromise on any sexual harassment in schools.
