PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said she will look into the enforcement of Section 19 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 (SOAC) which prosecutes witnesses who fail to report sexual abuse cases.
The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) said she will be meeting with Bukit Aman's Sexual, Women and Child Investigation Division (D11) and court officials tomorrow on the matter.
She said she would also meet with the Child Commisioner to work on a more positive approach to create awareness for witnesses to report such cases.
"I will be meeting with D11 and the court tomorrow on a few sections in SOAC that are not fully utilised.
"We have a clause. First and foremost, the neighbours and teachers, family members that knows that a child is being abused but still fail to report, they could be charged for withholding information.
"This is something I want to look into aggressively because if they already know but choose to keep silent, the perpetrator will take advantage so we have to chase after those who stay silent," she said in her speech when launching the eKlinik 6G application, here, today.
So far, no one has been charged under the section.
She said at the same time, the legal aid department should also also intensify their legal companion services to help underaged victims.
"This is our way to provide overall protection for child sexual abuse victims... sometimes the perpetrators are family members.
"I want to make this (companion services) a priority so that the victims are not afraid. They are also unsure of all the legal processes," she said.
The eKlinik 6G application is an application that allows for users to apply for legal aid, legal mediation, legal advice and for organisations to apply to hold legal clinics or legal literacy programmes.