A total of 608 out of 3,093 sexual crime cases involving individuals under the age of 18 recorded between 2023 and October this year occurred within school areas.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M Kulasegaran said out of the total, 1,760 were recorded in 2023, followed by 1,041 in 2024, and 892 from January to October this year.

“As for arrests within the same period, a total of 3,601 were made - 1,194 in 2023, 1,348 in 2024, and 1,059 between January and October this year,” he said during a Special Chamber session in the Dewan Rakyat today.

To address the issue, he said the Education Ministry has established the Institutional Safety Reform Committee, tasked with reviewing and strengthening safety measures in schools.

The committee comprises a range of experts, including academics, government agencies such as the police and the Prime Minister’s Department, as well as NGOs and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).

Among the improvements implemented by the committee under the Safe School Programme are safety audits conducted at the affected schools, he said.

Commenting on the initiative to establish a national database for juvenile sex offenders, Kulasegaran said the Home Ministry is prepared to support the implementation of the National Child Data Centre (NCDC) through data sharing among various ministries.

However, he said the implementation is subject to Section 15 of the Child Act 2001 (Act 611), under which the police is prohibited from disclosing any identification details, including photographs or information about minors, on any social media platform or public medium.

“The integration of data on children’s well-being, health, and education requires additional coordination among various agencies and must comply with legal provisions and data security protocols,” he said.

Earlier, during the session, Syerleena Abdul Rashid (Harapan–Bukit Bendera) raised a question regarding the government’s efforts to tackle the growing crisis of juvenile sexual crimes in the country.

- Bernama

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