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Malaysia’s Islamic schools face festering problems

By Murray Hunter - posted Monday, 8 July 2019


Ustazes are not the only people sexually abusing students. Senior students also groom younger students for sex. Adolescence is a time where students are discovering their own sexuality. There is a lot of anxiety related to this in such closed single-sex environments. In some cases, early victims discover their own gay orientations, while others are traumatised by these sexual encounters with no one to console them or seek help from.

There are also cases of sexual bullying. Two ustazes in Kuantan threatened to cut off an 8-year'old student's penis. On a visit to pondoks in Northern Malaysia earlier this year the writer heard stories of students sexually bullying other students.

There is little or no training available to assist those in authority in tackling these problems. The taboos prevent students from seeking help from authorities and consequently there is no way the victim can seek assistance to handle their trauma.

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Past governments have hidden the problem of child sexual abuse and rape in pondoks and Tahfiz schools. Statistics and data are very difficult to come by, and a study by the Department of Social Welfare is locked away under the Official Secrets Act.

The current Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, also the Minister for Women, Family and Community Development, said soon after coming to office that the protection of children from sexual abuse should be of the highest priority. However she has only called for the strengthening of laws against child sexual abuse and proposed that ASEAN set up a database on international paedophiles.

Other than advising parents to be more vigilant and releasing a video in collaboration with Google to teach kindergarten students what is safe, Wan Azizah has not proposed any tangible action plan by government to solve the problem, even with the shocking cases that came to public attention just after the Pakatan Harapan coalition won office.

Legislative action against child sexual abuse is only lip service. Tougher penalties don't act as a deterrent, especially so as there is no governing body to ensure the implementation of child protection policies in pondoks.

Child sexual abuse is a problem within a problem. The whole pondok/Tahfiz school industry is unregulated with as many as 1,000 schools unregistered. They need to not only be registered but policed before the problem of child sexual abuse can be tackled.

Although doctors and hospitals are legally required to report child sexual abuse cases, most cases never get to a doctor or hospital. Victims are left to cope with their trauma by themselves, often leading to feelings of guilt, low self-esteem and depression. Drug abuse and unstable relationships in later life often occur.

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When the internal management become aware of sexual abuse within their own school, the problem is usually swept under the carpet, sometimes even with the victim expelled to keep up the good name of the school. Within this culture pondoks remain an environment rife for child sexual abuse for years to come unless there is some honest public discussion and serious action.

However, finding solutions will be difficult in a country where attitudes towards sexuality are terribly skewed towards the irrational. Homosexuality carries with it, even if groomed or forced, a stigma. Ministers and government officials make unfounded and irrational statements about rape, abuse and LGBT. Victims are often blamed and sometimes are forced to marry the rapist. Child marriage is still not banned, yet consenting adults can go to jail for sodomy.

The intertwining of politics and sodomy has damaged the country, where the filth of sodomy politics makes it much more difficult for a victim to speak out. Excessive punishments that have taken lives, horror stories of sexual abuse and rape, pondok fires putting the lives of children in danger are a wake-up call for complacent authorities. Schools need to be registered and Ustazes screened, licensed and accredited. Enforcement officers need to follow up after schools have been registered to check on safety, education standards, and personnel.

On a national basis, children need to be taught what type of touching by adults is inappropriate. It needs more than a video; it needs in-class instruction. Parents must also be made aware to take seriously any accusations made by their children about incidents at school. Counselling and trained social welfare officers must be assessible to students on a regular basis so they can make a report and seek assistance if needed. Support systems must be created to deal with child sexual abuse rather than whitewashing the problem with more legislation that can't be enforced.

Children have to be taught that it's OK to stand up to someone in authority who has made improper advances, no matter who they are. This will probably be the hardest reform to achieve, as it requires a total reframing of Malay culture. It's time that the taboo of talking about sexuality and unquestioned blind subservience to authority get out of the way, so children will be safe.

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This article was first published by Asia Sentinel.



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About the Author

Murray Hunter is an associate professor at the University Malaysia Perlis. He blogs at Murray Hunter.

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