I applaud the announcement by our Prime Minister Najib Razak that a Bill to specially address child sexual crimes in a holistic and comprehensive manner is to be tabled in the current session of Parliament.
And yes, he can have our assurance that the bill will receive the support of all MPs as many opposition MPs, including myself, have been campaigning for a more stringent and comprehensive law to address crime against children all the while.
In October last year, I urged Minister Azalina Othman Said to be more inclusive as the war against sexual grooming is apolitical, opposition Members of Parliament should be included and consulted during the preparation of bill.
Azalina, who is also the Chairlady of Parliamentary Women’s Caucus, knows very well that female MPs are capable to put our political differences aside, and work together for the interest of women and children. There is no need to keep the Opposition in dark until the day the bill is tabled in Parliament.
However, sadly to say, until today we in opposition are still clueless about the details of the bill, and we have no idea if child marriage will be covered in the bill.
Even though Section 376 of the Penal Code has criminalized any sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 16, child marriage still takes place in our country.
In 2010, a United Nations report showed that over 82,000 married women in the country were girls between the ages of 15 and 19. For the same year, the Deputy Minister for Women revealed that nearly 15,000 girls below the age of 15 were in a marriage.
Study has shown that girls between 10 and 14 years of age are five times more likely than women aged 20 to 24 to die in pregnancy and childbirth. In addition to that, child brides are less likely to complete their education, and more vulnerable to physical, sexual and mental abuse.
Malaysia has adopted a United Nations resolution to end child marriage at the Human Rights Council in October 2013. It’s time for our government to honour our pledge and I hope our government will do so when tabling the bill.