Over 3,000 sex crime cases in 3 years involve those under 18

Deputy law and institutional reform minister M Kulasegaran said the education ministry has established an institutional safety reform committee to review and strengthen safety measures in schools. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 608 out of 3,093 sexual crime cases involving those under the age of 18 recorded between 2023 and October this year occurred within school areas, says deputy law and institutional reform minister M Kulasegaran.

He said out of the total, 1,760 were recorded in 2023, followed by 1,041 in 2024 and 892 cases 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,” Bernama reported him as saying during a special chamber session in the Dewan Rakyat.

Kulasegaran said the education ministry has established the institutional safety reform committee to address this issue, reviewing and strengthening safety measures in schools.

He said the committee comprised a range of experts, including academics, government agencies such as police and the prime minister’s department, as well as NGOs and Unicef.

Kulasegaran said the improvements implemented by the committee under the Safe School Programme included safety audits of affected schools.

Commenting on a proposal to establish a national database for juvenile sex offenders, he said the home ministry is prepared to support the implementation of a national child data centre through data-sharing across ministries.

However, he said this is subject to Section 15 of the Child Act 2001 (Act 611), under which police are 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.

Kulasegaran was responding to Syerleena Abdul Rashid (PH-Bukit Bendera), who asked about the government’s efforts to tackle the nation’s growing crisis of juvenile sexual crimes.