More cases of minors raping minors in Malaysia

News of two brothers, aged 8 and 10, who allegedly forced a Year One girl to perform oral sex recently after the duo browsed an adult movie site on their school computer, have shocked the nation.

However, experts tell Audrey Vijaindren and Tan Choe Choe that this is not an isolated incident, as cases of sexual misconduct among minors are on the rise

Incidents of minors raping minors seem to be increasing of late with many going unreported. This is a disturbing trend among today's teenagers, especially since almost 80 per cent of rapes are committed by persons known to the victim, says Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Datuk Dr N.K.S. Tharmaseelan.

"There are various contributing factors to the rise in cases of consensual and non-consensual acts of sexual nature among minors, such as lack of awareness on sexual development, increased sexual urges, irresponsible sexual behaviour and curiosity." He says besides being plain curious, minors who have substance abuse problems, such as addiction to alcohol and drugs, are also at risk of committing such acts.

"Parents, too, play a huge part. Poor parenting skills which cause lack of moral development in children and an unhappy family environment can be a trigger.

"Peer influence and the role of social media are not to be taken lightly. Besides that, situations which facilitate intimacy and close proximity are often dangerous factors as well."

Underlying mental illnesses, such as conduct disorder, schizophrenia and mania, Dr Tharmaseelan adds, are also causes for worry. Assistant Commissioner Hamidah Yunus, who is the principal assistant director of the Sexual Crimes, Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Investigations Division (D11) of the Royal Malaysian Police, told the New Sunday Times that before 2011, there were no reports of sexual misconduct of minors against minors.

In 2011, however, nine cases were reported, followed by seven cases last year and six cases from January till September this year. All these involved children below 13 years old.

While Hamidah points out that there is no actual year on year increase if one were to look strictly at all the reported cases, she says it is important to note that such cases have never been reported before.

And police investigations show that the easy sharing of information, particularly pornographic material, whether via the Internet or devices like mobile phones and tablets, are the catalyst for many of these cases.

"There was a case where a boy became curious and aroused after watching a Hindi movie where the actress was dancing in sexy clothing.

"After that, he got a 12-year-old girl to put on a performance like that for him. Then he pulled down his pants and tried to insert his private part into her. He even came prepared with a lubricant, a jar of cream. How did he know such things? "He got to know them from the Internet through a smartphone."

While she passes no judgment on the ease of access to information, Hamidah expresses concern that children are getting information on topics for which they have no guidance.

"They do not know what is right or wrong. Nobody is there to tell them because nobody knows what they are viewing or accessing online."

Human rights commissioner James Nayagam believes the state of affairs in our schools today may be a contributing factor to the rise of sexual misconduct involving minors.

"What we hear of are reported cases, but in reality, there are many more unreported cases. It shows that schools are weak in their teaching of respect for human rights of girls. Schools need to teach two important topics, human rights and preventive sex education.

"In my 30 years of working with school kids, I have come across so many cases of unwanted pregnancies resulting in illegal abortions.

"In fact, research shows that abortions in Malaysia among teenagers can reach up to 300 a day. But every attempt to teach preventive sex education has been put off for nearly 20 years now, as there is strong disagreement from certain religious quarters claiming it may encourage teenagers to get involved in sexual activities."

For Hamidah, however, the responsibility falls squarely on parents.

"You cannot leave your child to explore everything online without supervision.

"Monitor what sites they go to. Children are curious and will explore everything, so parents must be on their toes," she says, adding that if steps are not taken to nip the problem in the bud, it may spiral into uncontrollable proportions. While Nayagam agrees that close monitoring on the usage of social media is one preventive measure, he feels that that alone may not be sufficient.

"Even children in kindergarten access porn sites which are openly watched by their parents and siblings. Forget about censorship when it concerns the Internet, because censorship is ineffective.

"Children at an early age are being exposed to sex and adult materials, but this exposure has no counter explanation to help and guide the child to understand sex and its related issues.

"Today's situation is one that requires close bonding between parents and children, to spend quality and quantity time so as to be able to discuss topics on sex.

"This is the only way to counter negative situations."

Most children, he adds, think it's all fun and enjoyment until it's found out.

"Only when caught in the act is the element of criminal offence highlighted. Otherwise, girls and boys as young as 12 years old are indulging in sex and sexual related activities daily."

Parents Action Group for Education (Page) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim agrees that sex education is important, but easy accessibility to pornography among children and the carelessness of parents are the prime causes of such rampant occurrences.

"Referring to the recent case in Malacca, the fact that such pornography was accessible from the school computer lab requires immediate and urgent attention.

"While the school thinks that it has in place adequate firewalls, it's apparent that it's not so.

"Immediately, all schools should be instructed by the Education Ministry to ensure that the firewalls supposedly put in place are effective.

"Also, schools don't discourage students from accessing their Facebook accounts via the computer labs, knowing full well that there's an age limit."

She agrees that banning or censoring Internet content is not the answer.

"It's important that parents explain to their children what is good from bad, and right from wrong. Banning Internet usage will send the wrong message. The child should be taught how to use the Internet in beneficial, positive and productive ways."