KUALA LUMPUR: The government is seeking to make changes to the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 and the Evidence of Child Witness Act 2007 to ensure it gives more protection to child victims, said Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) said several meetings had been initiated with stakeholders such as academics, civil society organisations, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) and government representatives, for their input and to discuss the direction of the amendments since December 2022.
“Following that, the government has approved amendments to the Sexual Offences Against Children Act, the Evidence of Child Witness Act and the Evidence Act 1950 on Feb 24, 2023,” she said during her wrapping-up speech for Budget 2023 debate in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday (March 8).
The amendments, she said, will be carried out in two phases.
She said in the first phase, there are three amendments each proposed for the Sexual Offences Against Children Act and the Evidence of Child Witness Act, which will be tabled in this current parliamentary meeting.
While for the second phase, it will be implemented in the next parliamentary meeting after further engagement with stakeholders, Azalina added.
Among the proposed amendments that will be done is to introduce additional child-friendly steps to protect victims, legislate new crimes and allocate compensation to victims, she added.
“The two Acts have not been amended since they were enacted and an update is due, in line with current times and technology.
“When technology develops and modern abuse methods crop up whether online or offline, existing laws must be amended to handle, prevent and punish abusers who use these modern methods.”
According to police statistics, she said there were a total of 5,350 child sexual crime victims recorded from April 2017 until 2022.
“Aside from that, the government must ensure that access to the justice system for every child victim is safe, easily accessible and prioritises the best interest of the child," added Azalina.
She hoped that the amendments will soon be implemented as a positive change to the justice system for crimes committed against children in Malaysia.
“The planned reforms will also, hopefully, help prevent the child victims or witnesses from experiencing long-term trauma due to being forced to go through long trial proceedings and a judiciary system that is not child-friendly,” said Azalina.
