Rosmah begins all-out war against child sex crimes

Keep up the good work: (From third left) Azalina, Rosmah and Rohani speaking to members of The Star’s R.AGE team at the launch of ‘Hentikan’, a national campaign against child sexual crimes.

PUTRAJAYA: When Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor first watched The Star’s Predator In My Phone undercover series on child sex predators, she was filled with anger – and a determination to do something about it.

That was less than a month ago. Yesterday, she was already launching the Hentikan!! campaign, an ambitious nationwide effort involving all the relevant stakeholders to stamp out child sexual crimes.

“I was briefed by the Star journalists who went undercover for the series, and I was shocked!” said Rosmah, who is the founder of the Permata Programmes, which provides early childhood education.

“If you’ve seen the videos I’ve seen, I believe you would be sitting here with me and campaigning as well, because it is a very serious, very sophisticated way of abusing children.”

The Hentikan!! campaign, coordinated by Permata, will kick off with a national seminar on March 13 and 14 at Putra World Trade Centre.

Over 2,000 people from various government agencies and civil society groups have been invited to the seminar to discuss solutions to end child sexual crimes.

One of the solutions already being put forward is a new Child Sexual Crimes Act, which Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman revealed will be tabled in Parliament by the end of March.

“Today is historic because we are seeing results,” said Azalina after the launch. “This shows that the Government is serious about this.

“It has been less than a year since Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced the child sexual crimes task force, and things are already happening.”

A public service announcement, featuring celebrities Lisa Surihani, Harith Iskander, Hunny Madu and Fahrin Ahmad, was unveiled during the press conference.

The 30-second TV commercial shows the celebrities calling for the public to play a more active role in ending child sexual crimes.

“We cannot work in silos,” added Rosmah.

“We have strength in unity, so it’s very important we work together to wipe out child sexual crimes.”

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said the campaign is much needed, as child sexual crimes are still on the rise.

“This is the first time we have a campaign of this scale on child sexual crimes, and I hope the issue cuts across politics, race and religion.

“It’s very important that people come to participate,” said Rohani.