Malaysia must protect its children and their rights. If young children cannot turn to their parents and families, or do not have the resources and ability to turn to a body for protection, then who will protect them?

AS a researcher based in Indonesia, it has become automatic to read up on Malaysian news, and Aug 29 was a dismal day for children and the protection of children.

Internet news websites, social media and almost everywhere else I read were outraged by the verdicts.

Consensual or not, this (to me) was legislated paedophilia.

I stopped reading up on my research as I took in the news.

I’m not a lawyer or a judge, but what on earth was going on in the minds of the individuals who allowed such perpetrators to go free?

This very newspaper reported: “Another person has been bound over on a good behaviour bond for statutory rape. This time, it is an electrician found guilty of raping his 12-year-old girlfriend on two occasions last year.”

The electrician received the same sentence as former national youth squad bowler Noor Afizal Azizan for a similar offence committed two years ago.

The sessions judge was a woman. Doesn’t she have children of her own? I thought, aghast.

The offender was 21 years old and his “girlfriend” was 12. What would she know? And what was a 21-year-old doing with a prepubescent child?

Has our judiciary really lost the plot? Actually, has everything in the country gone topsy-turvy?

As a former volunteer at Nursalam (now known as Yayasan Chow Kit), I have had the honour of meeting child activists, social workers, lawyers, welfare officers, and yes a few gangsters, who find sexual abuse towards children despicable.

I have played, talked and heard from the horse’s mouth – some of them children – of the horrors they endured.

Yes, I do not deny that some of the young boys and girls behave rather precociously, and have learned to flirt and manipulate others at a very young age.

The environments they live in are not the most conducive (but how different are their lives from children from middle to upper middle class homes who also suffer from sexual abuse?), but are they to be seen as consenting participants of sexual predators?

I have no answer to this whole mess.

My time as a volunteer showed that we need a cohesive body of professionals, social workers and activists per se.

Child activists, the welfare departments are exhausted – they have so much to deal with, and have a tiny budget to run their operations.

Perhaps I am being overly emotional, but if a state cannot protect its young population, it is as good as a failed state.

What is one? In a nutshell, if the following happens to a nation:

> Erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions;

> An inability to provide public services; and

> An inability to interact with other states as a full member of the international community (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failed_state)

Malaysia must protect its children and their rights. If young children cannot turn to their parents and families, or do not have the resources and ability to turn to a body for protection, then who will protect them?

This is clearly against the UN Convention on the Rights of The Child which advocates protection because people under 18 years old often need special care and protection that adults do not.

The Convention sets out these rights in 54 articles and two Optional Protocols.

It spells out the basic human rights that children everywhere have: the right to survival; to develop to the fullest; to protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation; and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life.

The four core principles of the Convention are non-discrimination; devotion to the best interests of the child; the right to life, survival and development; and respect for the views of the child.

Every right spelled out in the Convention is inherent to the human dignity and harmonious development of every child.

The Convention protects children’s rights by setting standards in healthcare, education, and legal, civil and social services. (http://www.unicef.org/crc/)

I don’t care about these young men’s bright futures or an unstained history of good behaviour. As far as I am concerned, they’re paedophiles.

On that note, I am also receiving updates from friends who post or e-mail the latest crime happenings in the city.

I don’t care what the authorities have to say, but the crime rate is increasing.

Social media may amplify the “noise” surrounding the crimes but nevertheless, crime is happening in the country, whether you admit it or not.

I will vote in the next general election. And I am going to vote so that some semblance of normalcy, sanity and safety (is it too much to ask for 100%?) will return to this country.

I want children and fellow Malaysians to be protected, and have their rights and safety protected and respected.

We deserve these because we’re the rakyat and we’re worth it.

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