Stop Child Abuse

Malaysians had been outraged and saddened at the sexual assault and murder that befell the eight-year-old girl Nurin Jazlin Jazimin. The question why had this happened and who was to be blamed became the hot topic of discussions until now.

Really who was to be blamed? The bereaved parents for their negligence or can it even be society at general? Concerning child killing, an Australian researcher shows that it is “not a random event.” Paul Wilson states that “both the killers and the killed are caught up in a vicious cycle that society itself has created,” in his book Murder of the Innocents—Child-Killers and Their Victims.

No doubt it is not easy to single out any one factor and say that is the reason that made a person become the kidnapper and murderer of a child. It might even seem strange to think that society may be responsible for, or at least may contribute to, this tragedy, since most people find the exploitation of and the murder of children to be horrendous acts. Yet, industrialized societies, and even many less-developed ones, are saturated with films, TV productions, and reading material that glorify sex and violence.

There are more and more hard-core pornographic films featuring children and even adults dressed as children. These depict sex and violence against children. And these sadistic films are a multibillion -dollar industry! An adult’s desire for titillation escalates as he becomes addicted to pornography. As a result, some are willing to use either coercion or violence to obtain children for their perverted use, including rape and murder.

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