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Child abuse cases near to nil in Dubai

Installation of surveillance cameras in schools has helped reducing sexual harassment and abuse of children in Dubai, said Mouza Al Shomi, Director of the Child Department at the Ministry of Social Affairs.

According to Colonel Abdul Rahaman bin Shafee, Director of the Organised Crimes Department of the General Department of Criminal Investigation at the Dubai Police said that the police have recorded 11 cases of child abuse in 2011 and only 2 cases were recorded during the first quarter of the current year.

The Dubai Police have launched a campaign to prevent abuse of children under the theme “Violence against the innocent”, which is being organised by the General Department of Community Service and the General Department of Criminal Investigation of the Dubai Police in coordination with other 15 government and private institutions. The campaign will be continued until the end of May.

Brigadier Khalil Ibrahim Al Mansouri, Director of the General Department of Criminal Investigation, said that the campaign was launched not because there are a lot of such cases. According to the statistics with the Dubai Police, such crimes are very few in the UAE for a few years, which include the sexual abuse and murder of a child named Amna and a boy who was killed on Eid Al Adha before one year. Strict and just punishment given to the criminals in both the cases is a lesson and will help to stop such crimes from occurring again, he said reminding that in the first case the criminal was flown in a private plain from Pakistan to the UAE for his execution. In the second case also the culprit was executed, he noted.

Despite the fact that sexual assault on children are very rare in the UAE and Dubai, the police are considering this matter as vital and important. In all the emirates, police authorities are exerting endless efforts to prevent such crimes through providing safety and security to all the public, said Al Mansouri.

The Dubai Police provide a 24 hours hotline to receive complaints regarding sexual abuse of children and deal with the complaint in a confidential manner. Police officials reach the house of the victim in civilian clothes for investigation.

Al Shafee said the campaign aims at preventing any such incident from occurring and to educate the parents on their responsibilities in child protection.

He stressed on the important role of parents in monitoring their children, prevention of fights, and to keep a watch on what are the TV programmes being watched by their children. They should avoid their children from having dangerous impact of violence in their life. The children should be educated to say “no” to any acts that does not suit them, Al Shafee added.

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