KUALA LUMPUR: Negligent parents who allow unsupervised use of gadgets or smartphones may open the door to sexual predators and paedophiles, giving them access to their children.
Associate Professor Dr Salawati Mat Basir, a legal advisor at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), said parents need to be more concerned about their children, and if given access to devices, it should be controlled and monitored.
"There's a lot of technology out there that enables parents to monitor their children's screen activities without any problems, so there's no excuse for parents to wash their hands off the dangers of child pornography.
"The Child Sexual Offences Act 2017 also clearly outlines that accessing or browsing child pornography is an offence, let alone storing, collecting, or distributing it, which is a more serious offence.
"The act also stipulates that individuals who commit such offences will face action under several provisions such as Section 5 and Section 8 of the same Act when exchanging pornographic materials, transmitting pornographic materials, and various other provisions," she said.
She said that the country already has legislative provisions, but what remains is comprehensive enforcement measures.
She added that relevant authorities need to double their tracking efforts, and members of the public who have information can also channel it to the authorities so that the individuals behind these acts can be arrested.
"The increase in arrests and prosecutions will send a message to all parties that child pornography offences are serious.
"I also hope that the fines or penalties for these offenders are heavier because the victims of these incidents will suffer long-lasting trauma," she said.
Victims suffer emotional trauma
There are negative effects from early exposure to pornography besides being a driving factor for other crimes such as rape and incest.
This results in uncontrolled desires leading to the use of siblings and children as tools to satisfy these desires.
Senior consultant psychiatrist at Universiti Malaya (UM), Associate Professor Dr Muhammad Muhsin Ahmad Zahari, said that therapy processes need to be specifically carried out for victims so that the emotional trauma they experience can be minimised, allowing them to continue their lives without prolonged emotional disturbances.
"Emotional assessments need to be conducted for victims so that early detection can be made before it becomes more serious. From a psychological aspect, there need to be boundaries in relationships because those involved in incest may have difficulty in setting boundaries, especially emotionally," he said.
He said that medication may also be necessary to prevent and contain mental pressure from becoming more serious.
He added that there are factors driving this situation, such as sexual or emotional desires not being fulfilled by partners or being ignored by partners.
"Therefore, it tends to shift to other family members who may seem to fulfil those desires.
"This may be related to poor family relationships such as family dysfunction.
"There are also issues related to the existence of dishonesty in relationships, especially between spouses, which ultimately leads to the risk of incestuous behaviour," he said.
According to him, the effects that victims will suffer from are emotional detachment, being unable to make emotional connections, and forming love-hate relationships.