Misuse of social sites among reasons for occurrence of child sexual crimes

MALACCA: The misuse of social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WeChat, has been identified as one of the reasons for the occurrence of sexual crimes against children.
Social Welfare Department (JKM) Children Division principal assistant director Rafidah Abdul Aziz said teenagers between 13 and 15 years had been seen as the riskiest group as those in primary schools would still be listening to their parents' advice.
"Sexual crimes involving children should be tackled immediately by introducing new methods and approaches that can help increase public awareness and prevent the occurrence of the crime," she told reporters after attending the "Discourse on Sexual Crime Against Children: Issues and Challenges" at the Malacca Public Library Corporation here today.
The discourse was opened by State Women, Family Development and Welfare Committee chairman Datuk Latipah Omar.
Rafidah said JKM's statistics showed that 1,034 cases of sexual crimes against children were reported in the country in 2016, an increase from 978 cases in 2015 and 984 cases in 2014.
Meanwhile, Suhaila called on parents to always monitor and control their children's movement and activities so that they would not be left idle and vulnerable to the prying eyes of predatory paedophiles.
"We have to be alert at all times. Don't leave our children alone as they are still unable to identify or even to differentiate persons with ill-intent.
"Besides, the clothes our children wear can also be a threat as paedophiles might be attracted to prey on them," she added. — Bernama