CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE
AWARENESS WEEK 2004 (CSAAW)
“TEENS TAKE CHARGE”
Saturday, May 29th
to Friday, June 4th
|
|
CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE
AWARENESS WEEK 2004 (CSAAW) Saturday, May 29th
to Friday, June 4th |
The
Young Achievers’ Club is a member of the Malaysian
Coalition for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse (MCPCSA), which comprises
of 23 organisations and companies who have declared their commitment and support
to end child sexual abuse.
In
the year 2002, the members of the club got together to organize a Gala Charity
Dinner, which raised RM500, 000 for the Coalition’s awareness and training
programs. Subsequently in 2003, the members helped to organize the 4th
Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Week, which was launched in Sekolah Sri Cempaka.
Once
again, the Young Achievers’ Club, together with Pusat Majudiri Y (YMCA), will
be assisting the Coalition by organizing the Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Week
for 2004 (CSAAW 2004) with the theme:
To
create awareness on Child Sexual Abuse by empowering the community to get
involved though training programs and awareness talks.
1.
CSAAW 2000 – “Breaking The Silence”
2.
CSAAW 2001 – “Everyone: You Have A Role To Play”
3.
CSAAW 2002 – “Parents! You’ve Got A Role To Play”
4.
CSAAW 2003 – “Take Charge: Teens Taking A Stand Against Child Sexual
Abuse”
With
many media attention on cases of rape and sexual abuse on children, as well as
the on-going national debate on the death penalty for perpetrators of such
crimes that results in the death of victims, there have been few opportunities
given by the media and authorities for children to voice their views, opinions
and suggestions. Most media attention is on what the adults think and feel about
this issue.
This
year’s CSAAW 2004 aims to enable teenagers the opportunity to “Take
Charge” in creating opportunities for themselves to voice their opinions on
this issue.
Inline
with the 2003 World Children’s Day theme "Hear us: Appreciate and Protect
Our Rights", it is an opportune time to reinforce this World Children’s
Day theme by having the CSAAW 2004 theme as a follow through initiative.
The
work of MCPCSA is not just about the prevention of child sexual abuse but more
fundamentally, it is about protecting the rights of the child. The right for
special protection, the right for a joyful and healthy life, and the right to be
active participants in all matters affecting their lives are some of the
critical components embodied in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. And
the issue of child sexual abuse is very much about the abuse of a child’s
rights – not respecting the child as a fellow human being.
A
national poll for teens will be launched at the start of the CSAAW 2004, where
teens have the opportunity to record their views and their understanding of the
issues of child sexual abuse. The questionnaires, formulated by MCPCSA with the
assistance of members from the Young Achievers’ Club, will be advertised in
the media. Along with this poll, MCPCSA will be inserting relevant information
for teens on the prevention of child sexual abuse.
The
objectives are:
1) Create
a channel of communication for children to participate and to record their views
on the issues of child sexual abuse and their ideas on its prevention and to
make available these results to community leaders in their decision-making regarding
issues affecting children.
2) To
advocate the media for more time and space focusing on children and teen issues.
The
members of the Young Achievers’ Club invites all teens nation-wide to get
involved by taking part in the CSAAW 2004 POLL which will be launched on
Saturday May 29th. Please visit this site often for future updates.
To find out more about the MCPCSA, please click on this link.