“Nowadays it’s all about paper porn,” he said, asking the purpose behind explicitly describing what the perpetrator did to the victim or the objects he used on the victim when the crime was committed.

“Publishing pictures of the victims is wrong too,” he said, especially if they were children as the psychological effects of the assault stayed with them well into adulthood.

Syed Azmi said this during a seminar on child sexual crimes at the Putra World Trade Centre today.

He said rather than sensationalise sexual crimes, the media had a responsibility to educate the public on how to seek help from existing government agencies and NGOs in the country.

“For example, (the media should) compile a list of all the relevant NGOs who can assist victims (of sexual crimes) so that the public knows where to seek help.”

He said if the media played a more informative role by giving the public important information on where to seek help, that alone would be of great benefit to the victims.

Syed Azmi also said it was high time the media played a more active role in educating the public on how to prevent the occurrence of sexual crimes.

“It’s time that we push our traditional media to not just report, but to educate. For example, the media writes about how a father rapes his child, and that’s it.

“But they don’t educate why it happened and how we can prevent it. We also should get the media to speak about social taboos.”

He said despite the existence of the 24-hour helpline called Talian Nur 15999, the media did little to promote it. As a result, most people had no clue such a helpline even existed.

“Not everyone knows about Talian Nur and we (the media) should actually promote it.

“We never had an advertisement on who to call if you have questions or find yourself in danger.

“15999 is a direct line to the authorities and victims can remain anonymous when making a report. We must educate the public on how to use it.”

Talian Nur 15999 was launched by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry in 2007. It is a confidential helpline for children and young people to seek information and help in cases of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect.

Syed Azmi also said the government had to do more to streamline the functions of its various agencies as there was still a lack of communication at present.

“I wish the media would highlight the lack of communication between agencies in the government. There are shortcomings but let’s admit these exist and do something to improve it.

“We must optimise the usage of each mechanism that’s available. If it’s not working, we must find ways to improve it,” he said.