Outraged by the recent spate of sex crimes highlighted by the media, Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (SCAH) representatives today presented a memorandum to Minister of Women and Family Development Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, urging her to forward their concerns to the cabinet.

President of the SCAH women's section Cheng Su Chean called on the minister to look into six areas which should be addressed in order to prevent sex crimes from taking place.

Among others, the memorandum listed suggestions for improvement in the police force in dealing with these crimes, the judiciary in disposing of rape cases, local governments in putting responsibility on carpark owners to ensure maximum level of security and schools in inculcating positive attitudes among the youth towards women.

Receiving the memorandum in her Kuala Lumpur office, Shahrizat said the government is in the process of looking into various aspects of law to deal with sex offenders.

"The ministry is not happy with the (high incidence of offences). The government is now amending the laws to increase the jail term of a rapist from 20 years to 30 years.

"The government has also proposed for men above 50 to be whipped if found guilty. If they are healthy enough to rape women, they should also be whipped. These amendments will be brought to Parliament in September," she said.

At present, the penal code provides for a maximum jail term of 20 years and at least five strokes of the rotan. However, the law provides for individuals above 50 and those not physically fit to be exempted from the caning sentence.

The government had proposed to amend the law in response to public outcry over the high number of reported incest and rape cases, including by men above 50 years of age.

Trained security guards

Meanwhile, Shahrizat said Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting has also called for owners of carparks to install close-circuit television cameras to better monitor security in these areas.

"But we stress that cameras alone are not enough. There should be security guards patrolling these places and that they should also be well trained," she added.

Aside from these measures, Shahrizat agreed with Cheng that there should also be a change in attitude within society on women.

"There has to be awareness. Women should not be looked upon as the weaker sex. We must make sure that the criminals, who are mostly men, are taught to respect women. Women should also know how to fight back when they are abused," she said.

Hospital counselling

On other proposals listed in the memorandum, SCAH legal department chief Alice Lee said the courts should also speed up the hearing of rape cases so as to allow survivors to put the incident behind them.

"At the moment, the courts lump sex crimes together with other criminal cases and therefore, there is usually a wait of years before offenders are sentenced.

"We also urge the courts not to allow suspects, pending trial, to be released on bail. This may result in the rape victims being harassed, or worse, putting other women at risk," she said.

The SCAH women also called for the setting up of more counselling and treatment centres in hospitals for rape victims and for the police, in cooperation with schools and other social organisations, to provide self-defence lessons to women.

The memorandum was endorsed by the women's sections of Selangor/Wilayah branches of the Hokkien, Kwangsi, Hakka, Teochew, Huichiu, Kochow, Chungsan, Foochow and Yap clan associations.

Weekend rally

On a related matter, Sharizat said she will be attending the anti-rape rally this Sunday jointly organised by the All Women's Action Society (Awam) and Friends of Canny Ong if the event is moved to an indoor location.

The event was initially planned to include a march by an estimated 1,000 people from the Bangsar Shopping Complex to Jalan Telawi but this was later cancelled after police refused to grant a permit for the gathering.

Awam has since moved the event to the Mid Valley Exhibition Centre between 3:30 to 5:00pm.

The rally was initially planned at Bangsar Shopping Complex for symbolic reasons as Canny Ong was kidnapped from the carpark of the building on June 13 before she was murdered.

The case riveted public attention on the slew of sex crimes reported in the media.

The minister said police had explained their refusal to grant permission for the march out of security concerns.

"The police were worried for public safety in case the march gets out of hand. This is within the law and I can understand their concern. But the police did not say that (Awam) cannot hold the rally but only to do it in a confined environment," she said.

Lee, meanwhile, said the SCAH women's wing and other supporting clan associations will also be backing the rally this Sunday.