Baby dumping in Malaysia
Linda became pregnant when she was just about to graduate from high school. Not knowing what to do, the 20-year-old was devastated as her parents wanted her pregnancy to remain a secret. However, later she found the Kewaja Rehabilitation centre, a women's shelter in Kuala Lumpur - which has now become her temporary home until she is due in October this year.
Pre-marital sex and having a child out of wedlock is deemed deeply shameful in Malaysia - a Muslim majority country. They are not only regarded as a sin, but may also be a punishable crime. Muslim couples found guilty of fornicating could be fined up to thousands of U.S. dollars, jailed or caned. Linda was fortunate to have sought help from a shelter. But in a society where abortion is prohibited, many girls who share her experience are left stranded and eventually choose to abandon their babies.
This year alone, the Malaysian police have discovered 65 abandoned infants, most of them dead by the time they were found. They were left in rubbish bins, on doorsteps and on the streets, prompting the government to consider treating these cases as murder or attempted murder. Dr. Meriam Omar Din, a psychology counsellor at the International Islam University in Kuala Lumpur believes that cultural stigma that emphasizes abstinence is the main reason why pregnant girls are so eager to hide their pregnancy. "What they are doing is against the value of the family. It is like it is a mistake. They become desperate, perhaps they cannot see the right person who can help them find the solution,"
Meriam said in an interview with Xinhua. "By the time they start thinking, the baby is out. That is the reason why they would rather take the risk then to be rejected by the family. "In our religion, of course having sex (before marriage) is wrong, but throwing away a baby is worse. So I think throwing a baby is no longer caused by religious factor but cultural factor," Meriam added. She said the society's tendency to blame teenage pregnancy on women rather than men -- could also be a contributing factor to the rising cases of abandoned babies.
"The woman has to make the decision alone, and they do not have anyone to turn to and the man by then is not there anymore. To them, it is their fault because they are pregnant. The man does not want to get married with them ."If the embarrassment is one factor, if the man still stays and is willing to get married, I do not think they will throw the baby, " said Meriam.
Women's shelters like the Kewaja Rehabilitation Centre are heavens for many desperate young girls who are pregnant, helping them recover psychologically and physically while equipping them with skills that could get them a job after delivering a child. These shelters protect them momentarily from relatives and friends.
Meanwhile, religious bodies in Malaysia have also geared up to conduct frequent checks on dormitories and hotel rooms against illicit sexual activities. And the Malaysian government is now contemplating on teaching sex education in school -- a much debated move for parents who fear it would promote sexual behaviors at a young age. Malaysians are struggling to curb teenage pregnancies and stop more babies from being abandoned.
It is hard to find the perfect solution that everyone agrees on, but experts are now suggesting that it is about time that they stop telling young people what not to do, and instead educating them on how to make the right choices.
Source: Xinhua ( By Jia Ning Tan) - 14:54, September 14, 2010
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/7139796.html
Baby-dumping: The mothers need help, too
Empower congratulates the Selangor state government for the setting up of ‘Rumah Perhentian Sementara’ in an effort to protect and care for abandoned babies. As the number of abandoned babies and baby-dumping cases are increasingly being reported, this initiative is seen as another positive move taken in order to address the issue.
However, as much attention is given to protecting and caring for these unfortunate infants, the Selangor state government and other states should also focus on supporting the mothers most of whom happen to be teenage single and unwed mothers.
We believe that, be it through Rumah Perhentian Sementara or other safe houses, there is an urgent need to provide more services centres for these traumatised mothers, which are non- judgemental, to help them make informed decisions. Counseling and legal services should also be made available to help them understand other options pertaining to their newborns.
Should the mother choose to keep the baby, she must be informed of where she can seek help in order that both mother and child have access to food and security. If the baby is given into foster care or for adoption, the mother must be advised of her legal rights.
Adolescent mothers are less likely to stimulate their infant through affectionate behaviours such as touch, smiling and verbal communication, or be sensitive and accepting towards the baby’s needs. Those who had more social support were less likely to show anger or remorse toward the child.
One study showed that the correlation between earlier childbearing and failure to complete high school reduces career opportunities for many young women and as such, avenues for education should be made available to them to complete their formal education. [Pregnancy, Poverty, School and Employment at Minnesota Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Prevention and Parenting].
Empower notes with deep regret that other quarters have not been able to emphatise with the women’s plight and instead have suggested actions to ostracise the women since they do not appear to fall within society’s expectations of what a woman should be.
These unfortunate actions include special schools to only educate women who throw away babies; harsher punishment; and even the death penalty. These are not useful and in fact further stigmatises the women as being ‘loose’; ‘lack morals’; need to be disciplined on their sexual behaviours and in short, need to be knocked into shape as they do not appear to fall within society’s expectation of what a woman should be.
On the other hand, very little discussions have focused on the males who are also part of the problem, except for meeting out death penalty that unfortunately violates human rights principles. These men need to have counseling and made to be more aware of their responsibilities and be accountable for their actions.
Empower recommends that all state governments take the initiative to:
1. develop more centers for mothers and babies that will make women feel safe and secure to seek help and support
2. develop counseling for the young fathers to understand responsibility, accountability and to treat women with respect and as equals
3. advocate for the implementation of a comprehensive sex education and for the Ministry of Education to conduct full training for all teachers on sex education that promotes safety, security and respectful social relationships.
This is a long term solution which will educate the young to make responsible decisions and to be accountable for the consequences of their relationships, and to take preventive measures to protect themselves against sexual violence.
Normila Noordin - 1:57PM Sep 9, 2010
The writer is programme officer, Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor (Empower)
http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/142339
Baby Dumping
Instances of baby dumping in Malaysia has been going on indefinitely, more so of Malay ethnic babies who have been left in odd places like mosques, houses, etc. Here we are talking of an innocent, perhaps an underage girl, a drop out, wanting to be an adult, not too preoccupied with consequences or promises made by her so called boyfriend, who falls into a trap with a baby in her hands. In a Muslim society she is condemned, and being in a thoroughly subordinate position, there is nothing much she can do. Shariah law is her fear, castigation from fellow Muslims is the second, and being immature and bewildered she with tears in her eyes decides to abandon her own flesh and blood.
Can you imagine anything more cruel than this. This is something she has to live with for the rest of her life – a stigma only known to her which will haunt her for the rest of her life. A mother who is to support life abandoning the baby which perhaps end up lifeless if someone does not detect the bundle left by her. Biologically and maternally, she loves the child, having carried it in her body for 9 months.
Today I read, a Minister, surprisingly a woman, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said the Cabinet had decided that the police should investigate as murder those cases of baby dumping where the infants die. What is odd, the poor mother wants the baby to live, but this woman Minister, bless her soul, wishes the baby dies so that the victim can be charged for murder.
Malaysia is a funny country, you can murder someone with explosives and someone else carries the baby, you can bankrupt a country, you can allow corruption with the Police, Judiciary, MACC and other government agencies and it is above shariah, but abandoning a baby because of religious concern deserves death.
http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Baby-Dumping/392802
Baby dumping: Paying for our fault
I am concerned about the recent announcement that those who abandon babies, if the babies die, be investigated for murder or attempted murder ("Baby dumping may be classified as attempted murder or murder" -- NST, Aug 13). Reports of babies found buried, dumped in dumpsters or wrapped in plastic bags and thrown into rivers have understandably inflamed and outraged the public. However, inflamed and outraged sensitivities and misguided good intentions would jeopardise the future of hundreds of young women.
Decisions such as these must be based on what is best for the welfare of those concerned, including the mother, and to see that justice is served. There are too many policies which aim to punish and harm, and few which seek to help and provide support for those in need. It is not right for us to focus our anger and frustration on the young women who are themselves victims of Malaysian society's neglect.
Baby-dumping phenomenon is a direct result of our society's failure to acknowledge and address our blinkered viewpoint of sex, and for allowing our personal religious convictions to dictate public health and education policies over proven, pragmatic approaches. We have created a hostile environment where young women who find themselves pregnant out of wedlock have very few places to turn for help. We have heard, and some of us even support, the call for those committing illicit sex to be stoned to death.
No government healthcare facility offers abortion services for unwanted pregnancies or even condoms and sexual health information for couples. We have been debating for decades on whether or not to provide comprehensive sex education to our children. We forget that they grow up anyhow but without the critical information which allows them to abstain from sex, practise safe behaviour and make good decisions. Somehow, we expect them to know all this and then we delegate that responsibility to others.
More often than not, we depend on blind luck for our young to know right from wrong in religious, moral and social norms. We tolerate and, as recent events show, have been seen to encourage or "force" underage or child marriages in the misguided and simplistic belief that marriage will solve premarital sex and baby dumping.
The head of Kuala Lumpur Hospital's Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department was quoted as saying that in cases of children born out of wedlock, the mothers were below 18 and did not know they could get pregnant if they had sex ("Three more cases of abandoned babies" -- NST, Aug 14). Reality and pragmatism seem to have no place when dealing with sex. Yet, we have so little tolerance for mistakes and are all too ready to punish those who are products of our neglect.
Obviously, those who dump babies do so out of desperation and are often scared young girls. A precious few "baby hatch" facilities and a helpline established recently will not solve this problem instantly. They are merely band aids on a gaping wound which will continue to fester regardless of this measure. This ruling to classify baby dumping as murder or attempted murder will unfairly victimise these girls. It will result in more young women in such circumstances living in fear, and because most of them cannot afford the necessary procedure, they will increasingly resort to unsafe abortions that may cost them their lives.The men responsible, on the other hand, will often go unpunished.
A person I know of, a young girl of 17, became pregnant out of wedlock last year. Her mother, who was adamant about getting rid of the perceived shame, was determined to abort the six-month-old pregnancy, regardless of the danger to her daughter's life. Obviously, the life of her daughter meant less than the family honour. After much persuasion and ensuring the transfer of the girl to a shelter, the pregnancy was brought to term and the child adopted by a new family. She has been able to continue her education. She could easily have been one of the girls who secretly gave birth and dumped the baby. As for the father of the baby, his worry ceased when no pressure was exerted on him to be responsible.
This determination to punish seems to be clouded in our self-righteousness and blood-lust. Policy decisions such as this must be based on evidence and research, which should show that severe punishment will result in actual deterrence. We are reaping what we have sown. As a result of our continued flip-flopping on the issue of sexual reproductive health education and the inability to summon the courage to provide relevant services for unwed couples, we are sacrificing them on the altar of self-righteousness and misguided ideals.
Ultimately, this measure will not bring the babies back but it will increase the number of victims. Have we done all that we can to help these women? I appeal to the cabinet, especially to the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, to retract this punitive instruction. The ministry should consider strengthening its welfare and social networks to provide improved and pragmatic sexual reproductive services to all.
AZRUL MOHD KHALIB, Kuala Lumpur, 2010/08/16
http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/18bayi1/Article/
Shelter Home: Get to root problem of baby dumping
PETALING JAYA: Baby hatch centres may not be necessary if the root problem of baby dumping and other intervention support systems were well established, said Shelter Home executive director James Nayagam.
He said the newly set up OrphanCARE, a non-profit organisation for welfare and orphan management, did not resolve the root problem of baby dumping and was a waste of taxpayers’ money.
“The baby bank is nothing new and it is just treating the symptom,” he said in a telephone interview yesterday.
Nayagam said it was more important for society and families to be supportive as single mothers feared being stigmatised by society and ostracised by family, and Muslims feared being persecuted.
These were reasons for the mothers to dump their babies, he said, adding that such mothers would keep their babies if there was support from their boyfriends or parents.
On Saturday, the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry and OrphanCARE set up the country’s first baby hatch for mothers to secretly leave their unwanted newborn to be put up for adoption.
Nurulsalam general manager Dr Hartini Zainudin agreed that the baby hatch centre would not have been necessary if there was a support system.
“The issue is about the lack of support, counselling services and intervention programmes for the mothers,” she said.
She said the fact that Muslim women were punished by way of caning for having illicit sex would encourage them to dump their babies.
“We have had mothers refusing to step forward to register their babies who are born out of wedlock because they are afraid of getting caned.
“They are already pregnant and it is not going to stop unwed mothers from having babies,” she added.
Dr Hartini called for a more constructive approach rather than punitive ones such as providing adequate reproductive and sex education in schools, universities and welfare homes; counselling programmes for men and women on sexual issues; and a support service to help mothers keep their babies or give them up for adoption.
The problem could be resolved only if the Government and non-governmental organisation played their respective roles, she added.
By LOH FOON FONG - Tuesday June 1, 2010
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?sec=nation&file=/2010/6/1/nation/6373936
