ARAU, September 2 - Perlis recorded nearly 3,000 members of the Women’s Anti-Crime Squad (Waja Squad) so far.

It acts as the ‘eyes and ears’ for the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) in the effort to tackle sexual crime cases.

Perlis Women Development Office director P. Kalai Kumar said the Waja Squad consists of volunteers aged 18 and above, who are trained to assist the community in becoming first informants to the authorities.

“This Waja Squad is a volunteer group among Malaysians aged 18 and above.

“We train to help the community to be the first informants to report issues, especially sexual crimes to PDRM,” he said to reporters after the launch of a townhall session on ‘Jenayah Seksual Tanggungjawab Bersama’ by Perlis deputy police chief SAC Baderulhisham Baharudin.

Kalai Kumar said one of the factors for the continued rise in sexual crimes is that victims are afraid to lodge police reports.

Meanwhile, Baderulhisham in his speech said a total of 32 sexual crime cases were reported in Perlis between January until June this year, involving students in primary and secondary schools as well as higher education institutions.

“For cases of incest, unnatural sexual acts and sexual offences against children also involve secondary, primary and even kindergarten students,” he said.

He said various programmes have been implemented by PDRM in the effort to curb sexual crimes involving children and teenagers, including awareness campaigns through social media such as Facebook and Tiktok, as well as radio and television platforms and newspapers.