Call for robust laws to protect Malaysian children from sexual violence

KUALA LUMPUR: The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) has called for robust and specific national laws to protect children from all forms of sexual violence and abuse to be immediately put in place.
The rights body said they should include laws that would assist the police, prosecutors and enforcement agencies to pursue, disrupt and bring to justice those who attempted to sexually groom children online.
"Appropriate and necessary action at all levels must be immediately taken to criminalise and penalise effectively, in conformity with all relevant and applicable international instruments, all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children," Suhakam said in a statement today.
The statement came amid the outcry following revelations that British paedophile Richard Huckle, 30, had admitted to multiple charges of molesting Malaysian children.
It was reported that Huckle began attacking children when he was on a teaching gap year, aged just 19, in a campaign that spanned nine years, from March 2006 until his arrest in December 2014.
He faces up to 22 life sentences after admitting to an unprecedented 71 charges, including rape, sexual assault, and sexual activity with a child.
"The Commission reiterates that specific provisions must be enacted to criminalise the acts of paedophiles as well as the publication, possession and distribution of child pornography," Suhakam said. — Bernama