More girls victims of violence and abuse compared to boys, says Minister

JOHOR BARU: More girls are becoming victims of violence and abuse compared to boys, says Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.

The Women, Family and Community Development Minister said 3,348 girls have fallen victim to physical, sexual and emotional abuse out of the total 5,216 cases reported as of August.

“Compared to girls, the number of boys recorded was 1,868," she said.

“Last year, out of the total 6,770 abused children, 4,303 were girls while in 2021, out of the total 6,144 victims of abuse, 4,005 were girls,” she added at a press conference after attending the national World Children’s Day celebration at a hotel here on Monday (Nov 20).

World Children’s Day is celebrated annually on Nov 20 to mark the anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly adopting the Declaration and Convention on children’s rights.

Nancy said that there was an increase in the number of child abuse cases over the years, which could also be due to more cases being reported to the authorities.

She said that child abuse does not only take place at home but also in childcare centres and pre-schools.

The ministry has taken measures to safeguard the safety of children, such as improving the child sex offenders registry, looking into making it mandatory for childcare centres to install closed-circuit television cameras, and working with the police to improve the vetting system on those who want to work with children, she added.

When asked about the death of children after they were left unattended in vehicles, Nancy said that she had spoken to the Transport Minister about one of the suggestions she received, which was to prohibit tinted vehicle windows.

“That is not my suggestion; it is one view I received from the public regarding the matter, and I have spoken to the minister about it casually.

“This is because we are not sure whether it (tinted windows) is the cause of such incidents. It will be up to the (Transport Ministry) to look into the suggestion as it is not under my ministry’s jurisdiction,” she added.