Unseen challenges: Are we really protecting our children?

The recent scandal involving children at welfare homes connected to Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISB) shocked the country and dominated headlines for weeks.

Many from all levels of society expressed outrage and condemned the child abuse and exploitation that had taken place. Various agencies sprang into action. Laws were invoked as investigations got underway. Some people were charged, some convicted and some detained under Sosma, a harsh security law.

The GISB episode has exposed several issues, including the lack of child safeguarding and protection in the country. It is a wake-up call, showing how dire the situation can get for children when there is no monitoring and no reporting of wrongdoing.

Policymakers, the relevant agencies and the public must take note. It is time for us to really reflect on how to safeguard and protect children in the country.

Child safeguarding is a broad umbrella term which describes the actions taken to promote the welfare of children and to protect them from harm. While definitions vary slightly, safeguarding generally means:

• protecting children from abuse and maltreatment
• preventing harm to children’s health and development
• providing support to meet children’s needs when problems emerge
• ensuring children grow up with safe and effective care, within their family where possible
• taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes
• limiting risks which could affect children, often talked about as “providing safe spaces”

Child protection is seen as part of child safeguarding.

While the GISB episode has got us thinking about safeguarding children, it should not be limited to protecting them from physical or sexual abuse and exploitation.

We need a broader and more holistic understanding of these terms and their application. Many children face all kinds of harm and risks in their daily environment. So we need to extend the way they are safeguarded and protected in the broadest possible way.

Vulnerable to harm

Look up some of the information available about children in the country.

We know that poverty is a high-risk harm factor for children. Children living in poverty grow up in conditions where they are more likely to lack basic necessities, like nutrition, shelter, health and education. 

Poverty can hinder children’s physical and cognitive development. It affects attendance in schools, dropout rates and educational outcomes – resulting in  learning poverty.

Likewise, children living in poverty face a greater risk of being exposed to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.

All this will surely limit their socioeconomic opportunities later in life.

Then we have the issue of children and road safety. A media report highlighted that in the first nine months this year, road accidents claimed the lives of 779 students aged 18 and below. Apparently, 4,043 road accident cases involving schoolchildren were recorded in the same period.

Let’s not forget children who are stateless (several categories of whom exist). Consider the enormous hurdles they face in seeking access to education and healthcare. Without proper or legal documentation or status, they are deprived of access and opportunity to fulfil their potential.

Without such documentation, these children – including refugee and asylum-seeking children, children of migrant parents, and stateless and other undocumented children – face the risk of being detained in an immigration detention centre or the recently set up Baitul Mahabbah shelters (for children aged 10 and below).

And what of substance abuse and mental health affecting children? According to an adolescent health survey in 2022, about 106,000 adolescents in Malaysia had used drugs at least once, while 60,000 were using drugs at the time of the survey.

The survey showed many adolescents also face mental health issues: one in 10 had attempted suicide, one in eight had suicidal thoughts, and one in four were battling depression.

Reports have also highlighted how environmental pollution and climate change affect children. Air pollution increases respiratory illnesses and the risk of hospitalisations for respiratory diseases in children. Children also fall ill from waterborne diseases that are often spread by floods.

What about bullying in schools? The Ministry of Education reportedly recorded 4,994 cases of bullying in schools in the first 10 months of 2023. And remember, cyberbullying also harms children.

These examples illustrate the harm children in our society face. While not all children in the country face these circumstances, children who are marginalised or vulnerable are disproportionately affected. They include children from the poorest 40% of households and those from rural areas, including Orang Asli and Orang Asal children, children with disabilities, as well as migrant, refugee and stateless children.

The circumstances can be complex or multi-dimensional – for example, consider a child living in poverty with a learning disability and without a birth certificate.

We need to recognise and understand that children can face all sorts of risks and harm. So the framework of child safeguarding and protection should cover all children.

So what is our duty of care?

Knowing the above, what is our response and what is our duty of care towards children in society?

Malaysia has taken several steps to recognise children’s rights and protect children. It acceded to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1995 (albeit with a few reservations). It then enacted the Child Act in 2001 to fulfil the country’s commitment to the UN convention.

The Child Act envisages a national council for the protection of children to advise the government on child protection issues. Child protection teams are also to be set up in every state and district in the country.

Part of the preamble to the act states:

Recognising every child is entitled to protection and assistance in all circumstances without regard to distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, social origin or physical, mental or emotional disabilities or any other status…

In 2019 Malaysia’s first children’s commissioner was appointed under Suhakam, the national human rights commission. An office for the children’s commissioner came into full force the following year. This office focuses on promoting and protecting the rights of children as set out in the UN convention.

Last year, a Children’s Development Department under the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development was formed to tackle child neglect and abuse. This new department replaces the child division of the Department of Social Welfare under the same ministry.

Along the way, various laws have been enacted to specifically protect and safeguard children. These include the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 and the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.

But how effective are all these commitments, acts and structures in safeguarding and protecting children from various harms?

A way forward

It is not easy to actually safeguard and protect children. We do not have a magic wand to ‘fix’ the many problems – some existing, others emerging.

We recognise the many efforts by the government and relevant agencies to address some of the issues affecting children. Yet, we also need to ask how to support, consolidate and make these efforts more effective.

What can help would be to mainstream child safeguarding and protection into policies, legislation and programmes and to uphold what is in the best interest of the child.

This means child safeguarding and protection must be central in policymaking and implementation. Too often macro-level policies, strategies and plans do not focus on children explicitly or consider their needs.

For this to happen, policymakers and legislators need to be aware of how children are being harmed. They also need to know what is required to safeguard and protect children and mitigate against all forms of harm.

There is no point having policies and legislation which, when implemented, cause or worsen hardships for children and their families.

Consider a few examples. Think about the impact of our citizenship laws on stateless children. Examine how a low minimum wage results in child poverty. And look at how deforestation jeopardises the health and nutrition of families, including children, living in affected areas.

We need a framework for interagency or intersectoral collaboration on child safeguarding and protection. Agencies cannot work in silos as the responsibility for this is not the job of just a single agency or ministry.

Then there is the b-word, budget. Adequate funding must be made available for child safeguarding and protection. This should cover spending on infrastructure, technical expertise and sufficiently trained personnel to implement policies and legislation effectively.

Supporting the professionalisation of social work must be part of this. So too the recruitment of many more trained child social workers, child psychologists and child educationalists. 

Just think of the funds that would be available if we can stop corruption and loss of public funds, including ‘leakages’ and wastage!

Let’s not forget the role of civil society groups, academia and people surrounding children. These groups can and do play a key role in highlighting the discrimination and harm that children face. They are also able to raise awareness of the need for child wellbeing in current and emerging circumstances. And they can advocate for the safeguarding and protection of children in the broadest possible sense.

Children make up just over a quarter (26.9%) of the current population. Not only are they an integral part of our nation, they are our nation’s future.

The onus is on us to ensure their wellbeing and safe passage into that future. We must do it together.

Prema Devaraj
Co-editor, Aliran newsletter
22 November 2024

The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.

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