A series of three short films on child sexual abuse will be screened as public service announcements at 18-and-above rated movies nationwide at Tanjong Golden Village (TGV) cinemas.

“Everyone that I have met who has seen this public service announcement has got goosebumps,” said Phillip Ling, principal of communications and sustainability at Digi Telecommunications.

The move is part of the 'Stop Nursery Crimes' campaign by advertising agency Naga DDB and local NGO, Protect and Save the Children Association of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur (PSC).

The campaign was launched yesterday at TGV Cinemas, 1 Utama, and is aimed at breaking public assumptions and stereotypes surrounding child sexual abuse.

The idea is the brainchild of Naga DDB’s executive director Alvin Teoh.

“This project started about two years ago when my daughter was nine, was molested in school by a teacher and it was a very confusing time for me as a parent and for my wife.

“If it was not for my wife’s effort in speaking to her about these sorts of things, she would not have been able to plan her escape because she was very aware of what was happening,” said Teoh during a panel discussion.

The three short films were filmed this morning at a cinema hall filled with reporters and guests.

The films featured three children in different settings who were alone with a figure of authority.

The sentence, ”If you don’t teach your child sexual abuse, someone else will” flashed across the screen, drawing visible responses and vocal reactions from the crowd.

Each film conveys a different message and is targeted at different racial profiles aimed at driving viewers to the campaign website.

The website contains advice for parents, teachers and caregivers regarding child sexual abuse prevention as well as a platform to engage PSA.

Among those present at the launch were Undersecretary of the Policy Division, Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, Waitchalla Suppiah and deputy superintendent Tan Gee Soon who represented the police.

Both of them were part of a panel discussion focused on how the public can help protect and save the children, which was held after the screening.

Virtual reality experience

Waitchalla informed the guests about the legal protections that are being implemented to help curb the problem of child sexual abuse.

Among them were a proposed register of child sexual offenders available for commercial purposes.

“We will have a list of people who have committed any types of crimes against a child. We will have those names,” she said.

Tan, on the other hand, urged parents and children to report to the police first before taking any action on their own through social media.

“We would like to urge parents to report to the police and try not to go through social media.

“You viral it and the perpetrators will close their accounts and then it is difficult for us to investigate,” said Tan.

When the panel was asked about the preparations done before filming the scenes with the child actors, Teoh explained that the younger child actors were not informed about the situation although the older ones were.

However, he added that their parents were well informed.

“We went through a long time trying to get parents to agree.

“Many times when they saw the script they respectfully withdrew and we totally understand that, but those who totally understand what they were doing, they spoke to their kids about it,” said Teoh.

At a press conference after the launch, when asked if there will be a trigger warning at the start of the film, Madeleine Yong, the founder and board member of PSC, said that they would have a discussion.

“We’ll think and talk about it,” she said.

Reporters and guests were also encouraged to try out a virtual reality experience of child sexual abuse, which utilises a 360° video.

The virtual reality experience was done using the Google cardboard headset.

The short films and 360° videos can be viewed at stopnurserycrimes.com.