| James Kon |
OF THE 34 cases of rape and unlawful carnal knowledge reported in 2017, 11 involved children under the age of 16, according to statistics from the Women and Children Abuse Investigation Unit under the Criminal Investigation Department of the Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF).
Out of these 11 cases, one victim met her abuser online.
These alarming findings were highlighted by Brunei Council on Social Welfare (MKM) Vice President 3 and Country Researcher (Brunei) for Weaving Women’s Voices in Southeast Asia (WEAVE) Nur Judy binti Abdullah during her presentation entitled ‘The overview on Access to Justice of Girl-Children who are Victims of Sexual Violence in Brunei Darussalam’. The presentation was made at the national dialogue on ‘Access to Justice of Girl-Children who are Victims of Sexual Violence in Brunei Darussalam’ at the Lecture Theatre of Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium yesterday.
She added that in 2016, out of the 30 reported cases of rape and unlawful carnal knowledge, 21 involved girls less than 16 years. As with the 2017 findings, one victim met her attacker online.
For 2015, 36 cases of rape and unlawful carnal knowledge were recorded, with 23 cases involving girls under the age of 16 and nine victims meeting their attacker online.
“Young children now have access to online gadgets, and because of this the attackers were able to contact the victims through Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The attackers pretend to be of the same age as their intended victims, but in actual fact they are much older. There are many instances where they pick up the young girls from school without being noticed by the parents,” Nur Judy said, adding that there are also cases of attackers abducting children who have been dropped off at shopping complexes or malls by their parents.
Nur Judy also revealed statistics on teenage abuse cases under the Community Development Department (JAPEM), whereby in 2017 there were 29 cases of children suffering from abuse beyond parental control, 21 cases of child abuse, nine cases of sexual abuse, and two cases of incest.
She highlighted that there is an increasing trend among girls aged between 13 and 16 falling victim to sexual violence.
Children at particular high risk of becoming victims of sexual violence can be grouped into one or more of the following categories: those coming from low-income families, those living with dysfunctional family dynamics, family with disputes, divorced parents, victims who are mentally challenged, intellectually underdeveloped or have low education, victims who lack parental support and guidance, victims who have behavioural problems, and those that show promiscuousness at an early age, among other reasons.
Nur Judy said one of the activities contributing to sex crimes against girls is sexual grooming.
“This is the most common root of sexual violence due to easy access to the Internet and mobile applications. Victims are exposed to sexual materials by the perpetrator, a form of conditioning to encourage the child to engage in sexual acts,” she said.
“The statistics we have on sexual violence against girls are only the reported cases. There may be more cases that are not reported and the figure can be higher. The reasons for turning a blind eye to the abuses include fear of loss of income from the attacker, especially if he happens to be the head of the family or sole breadwinner. Also the attacker may have threatened the victim, or the victim’s mother might not believe her account of the abuse and blame her instead of the attacker.”
Delivering her recommendations to tackle this problem, she said, “In the best interest of the children, we should have a national plan of action on elimination of violence against children and women. This needs to be developed at the national level so that measures to counter this menace can be institutionalised and adhered to by government and non-government organisations and other social partners.”
She noted also that victims must be afforded proper access to justice, and that post trauma treatment for victims of sexual violence are still sorely lacking in Brunei.
“There is a need for professional psychotherapists who can provide proper therapy and recovery treatment to the victims to help them overcome their post-traumatic stress disorder,” Nur Judy said.
“Women and children’s rights advocates must be educated on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), members of the civil society must actively participate in awareness-raising campaigns and training on both conventions. Legal Clinics of MKM and the Law Society of Brunei Darussalam are relevant initiatives that should be fully supported to give vulnerable groups access to justice.”