19 NOVEMBER 2021

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

As much as we would like to celebrate this World Children’s Day with joy, it is difficult for us to do so. Every month in AWAM, we read and compile articles in the media on statutory rape cases. The cases involve children as young as 7 years old. It is always a traumatizing experience for us, as we read what had happened to these young boys and girls. However, whatever we feel, it was definitely nothing in comparison to what these children have gone through.

The surge in statutory rape cases is still devastating. As of October 2021, statutory rape took up 71% of the total number of rape cases for the year, as reported in the media monitored by AWAM. According to AWAM’s client records this year, our youngest rape survivor was 2 years old.

Sadly statutory rape is just one of the grave violations faced by children in Malaysia today. In April this year, we had to compile a report on 215 incidents of students in our schools being sexually harassed. During the pandemic, there have been concerns of an upward trend in prevalence of child marriages, due to worsening social issues such as poverty.

What future are we preparing for our children? We say our children, because we are, after all, Keluarga Malaysia, and every child is our child.

Mr Prime Minister, we still see rape culture being reinforced in the most deplorable ways possible by “role models”. In the past three years alone, we had a politician saying that there is ‘nothing wrong’ with a rape survivor marrying their rapist, a lecturer blaming survivors’s clothing and behaviour as causes of rape, and an actor glorifying rape scenes in a live talkshow. These are signs of a patriarchal culture that sees women as second class citizens. This culture has a huge ripple effect on our children and this is why our children are still at risk of being sexually harassed in schools, be it by peers or figures of authority.

Again, we ask, what future are we preparing for our children?

Mr Prime Minister, we are sure that your vision of Keluarga Bahagia does not include child brides, boys and girls alike, students who are sexually harassed, children who have Malaysian parents but are not Malaysian citizens. After all, you have pledged to “protect our children from all harmful practice and discrimination”. Mr Prime Minister, we must all abide by this pledge and you must lead the way.

Thankfully Mr Prime Minister, the way forward is clear. To start off, we need our law enforcement officers and judiciary officials, as well as all men and boys in Malaysia to be gender-sensitive – by carrying out mandatory, recurrent and effective capacity-building training and educational campaigns.

We need our schools to be safe. We just need the Ministry of Education’s commitment to institutionalise policies of zero tolerance against sexual harassment in all educational institutions, among which should include regular trainings of gender sensitivity with figures of authority and mandatory gender awareness modules in teacher training institutes’ curricula.

For child marriages, we can advocate that all other states follow the model emulated by Selangor in amending the minimum legal marriage age for Muslims from 16 to 18 years old. In addition, the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development must provide a clear timeline to implement the National Strategy Plan in Handling the Causes of Child Marriage (2020-2025).

We are part of the Human Rights Council, Mr Prime Minister. It is time we walk the talk. Once and for all, please let Malaysia withdraw our reservations to the child’s right to nationality in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), both to which we have acceded.

The future for our children is in your hands. We count on you, Mr Prime Minister.

Yours sincerely,
All Women’s Action Society (AWAM)