Anti-grooming laws to be put in place following existing legislation from Singapore, says head of Bukit Aman's Sexual Investigation Unit.
Malaysians are number three in Asean when it comes to possession of child pornography, The Star reported.
This was revealed by police over the weekend at a forum organised by R.AGE, the youth lifestyle section of The Star; WOMEN:girls, an NGO; Unicef, and local telco Digi.
According to Bukit Aman’s head of the Sexual Investigation Unit (D11) Deputy Supt Tan Gee Soon, who also sat on the forum panel, the information came from international police sources.
Another panellist, Marie Laure Lemineur said globally the top two countries in the area of child pornography possession are the United States, and the Netherlands.
Lemineur, who is head of the Sexual Exploitation Online Programme of Ecpat, an international organisation fighting to end the sexual exploitation of children worldwide, said though it is technology which had enabled children to be exploited on a larger scale, it was “human behaviour which decides to sexually exploit a child”.
“Parents must educate their children on the dangers online and in the real world and take steps to avoid them.
“Don’t think because you are not connected, you are safe from being exposed to risk,” Lemineur was quoted as saying by The Star.
She said that child porn and the predatory behaviour of grooming should not just be left to the police and the government to enforce but instead be tackled in a holistic manner with the cooperation of everyone.
Meanwhile, Tan acknowledged that Malaysia did not have specific laws that made possession of child pornography an offence.
“However, we have Section 292 of the Penal Code and Section 5 of the Film Censorship Act to act against those with pornographic images and films respectively,” Tan said, according to the daily.
She added that police are looking into amending Section 292, which currently only deals with the sale and distribution of obscene material.
On the point of grooming, Tan told The Star that her unit, D11, had drafted a proposal for such a law to prosecute predators who carried out such activities.
Asked for more information, she only said it was based on the anti-grooming law passed in Singapore.
“Sexual grooming of minor under 16″, which is listed under section 376E on laws against Sexual Offences in Singapore, states it is an offence for someone above the age of 21 to meet or communicate with another person under 16 years of age, on two or more previous occasions, with the intent of committing a sexual offence.
Under sub-section 4 of section 376E, anyone found “guilty of an offence under this section shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 years, or with fine, or with both.”
Lemineur chimed in, saying it is simply a matter of political will to enact such a law as it could be easily drafted based on existing international and regional standards.
Meanwhile, Unicef representative to Malaysia Marianne Clark-Hattingh said Malaysia has an obligation to introduce measures to protect all children below 18 from sexual abuse, including Internet-related abuse.
“Malaysia is a signatory of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and its Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and as such law enforcement agencies must have all these laws in place to pursue offenders, besides identifying and protecting victims,” The Star quoted her as saying.
Original article from http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2016/06/27/child-porn-we-are-number-one-in-asia/
