Reports of Sexually-explicit Online Posts Made to MUIS and MUIS' Response
Ministry of Social and Family DevelopmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the response of MUIS to sexually-explicit online polls targeting female religious teachers and the prevalence of sexual harassment reports within the asatizah fraternity. Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap inquired about the actions taken since the first complaint, suspect rehabilitation, and the timeline for revising moral education programmes. Minister for Social and Family Development and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli B M M stated that MUIS offered victims counselling and psychological support while lodging a police report following the May 2021 incident. He reported that between 2019 and June 2021, 12 complaints were made against asatizah perpetrators and two reports involved asatizah victims, though no similar poll cases have occurred since. The Minister also emphasized that Islamic education curricula, including Kids aLIVE and Teens aLIVE, are regularly reviewed to address emerging issues affecting Muslim children and youth.
Transcript
61 Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap asked the Minister for Social and Family Development and Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs (a) when did MUIS first receive a complaint on the sexually-explicit online poll targeting at women Islamic religious teachers and what was the action taken; (b) since the matter was first reported till now, how many similar cases have been reported to MUIS; (c) what measures are being taken by MUIS to counsel and rehabilitate the suspects; and (d) when will MUIS introduce a comprehensive revision of its moral education programme for students of Kids aLIVE and Teens aLIVE and the Muslim public.
Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: On 26 May 2021, MUIS received complaints from concerned members of the public about an online poll sexualising female Muslim religious teachers. MUIS immediately reached out to offer support to the victims of the poll, such as counselling as well as psychological, emotional and religious support. MUIS also lodged a police report for the Police to investigate the poll. As Police investigations are ongoing, MUIS is unable to provide further comments until full investigations have been completed.
Over the past three years (that is, from January 2019 to June 2021), MUIS has received a total of 12 complaints1 alleging that a member of the asatizah fraternity was a perpetrator of sexual harassment and two reports where asatizah were victims of sexual harassment. There have been no similar cases of sexual harassment reported to MUIS since the online poll.
The Islamic education curriculum for full-time and part-time madrasahs, such as Kids aLIVE and Teens aLIVE, are regularly reviewed to ensure they remain relevant in addressing emerging issues and developments affecting our Muslim children and youths.