PETALING JAYA: Child rights defenders say Malaysia is capable of doing more and there should be no excuse for it to not set up the Special Court on Sexual Crimes Against Children in every state.

       The issue demands attention now more than ever with the onslaught of the pandemic, they add.

       Youth-led NGO Monsters Among Us (MAU) founder Firzana Redzuan hailed Malaysia’s progress in establishing the special court, but felt that leaders lacked the political will to speed up changes in the country’s child protection system.

       “The foundation has been laid, civil society is constantly on standby for support while guidelines and standard operating procedure (SOP) have been developed for further implementation.

       “What is the excuse now?” she said, adding that the SOP referred to preventing re-traumatisation of children during the process of justice.

       Firzana was commenting on the statement by Pengerang MP Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said about the delay in the formation of the Special Court on Sexual Crimes Against Children, which was targeted to be set up nationwide by the end of 2018.

       Azalina, who was recently appointed as a special adviser to the Prime Minister on law and human rights, had raised concerns about the matter as she said this meant that many children who were abused during the pandemic could not get justice quickly.

       The first such special court was established in Putrajaya in June 2017 and the second in Kuching in April 2018.

       Firzana said MAU had in April launched a chatbot for children to report sexual abuse and to be provided with the relevant support.

       “In August, our chatbot’s traffic saw an average of two suspected sexual abuse cases per week. This is just our reporting platform. We have yet to scrutinise the consolidated data from the Welfare Department, police and other NGOs,” she added.

       She said that because of the pandemic, children were highly exposed to risky activities and predatory behaviours online, following the abrupt pivot to online classes.

       On the special court, she said it had the facility and capacity to best safeguard the interest of the child in the legal process such as allowing the young victim to testify through a video link.

       “There will be a separate room for the child to testify, accompanied by an intermediary or a social worker. Most importantly, the sessions will not be open to the public or media coverage,” she said.

       Children’s rights expert Melissa Mohd Akhir said that while Malaysia had available legislation and the facilities to protect children, the implementation was not uniform across states.

       “We are usually good at ideas and launches but less so in long-term action,” she said, adding that the funding for this facility should be an integral part of national policy and budget.

       Prominent social activist Syed Azmi Alhabshi suggested more children’s investigation centres be set up at police stations to ensure they were comfortable when giving their testimony over video.

       Syed Azmi said the onus to set up the special court nationwide should not just be on the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.

       “It also involves other agencies such as the police, teachers and medical practitioners.”