Doing all it takes to protect our kids

KUALA LUMPUR: The call to set up a non-public sex offender registry is growing louder.

“It is definitely needed and VOC (Voice of the Children) has said many times – that it must be mandatory for all bodies that are related to and work with children have to write in and find out whether a prospective employee is on the register,” said VOC chairman and lawyer Sharmila Sekaran.

“But I feel it shouldn’t be made public to prevent cases of vigilantism.”

Datin Wong Poai Hong, the Association of Registered Childcare Providers Malaysia honorary president, said there was also a need for an internationally integrated child protection system on top of a sex offender registry.

“It is just as important to check who is coming through our borders,” she said.

“Child trafficking for sex tourism has always been a big problem, and there should be a system where Immigration officers report to the police if they notice a child showing signs that he or she may be potentially trafficked and abused when crossing the borders,” said Wong.

President of the Association for Women Lawyers (AWL) Goh Siu Lin suggested providing a service for those who fantasised about sexually abusing children, citing seminar panellist Donald Findlater’s example of the system provided by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation in Britain.

“There needs to be a safe, non-judgmental place for them to seek help whether it be when they have that first thoughts or when they’re about to be re-released into society,” she said.

“However, we must consider whether there’s enough funding for this to happen and prioritise what’s more important, and I think it’s education.”

At the end of the seminar, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, who also heads the task force for child sexual crimes, said all suggestions presented would be considered.

“We’ve received a lot of feedback,” she said. “We’ll need to digest it before we can decide on how exactly to move on.”