The child abuse law in Bahrain should be made stricter and parents who fail to report cases of child molestation must be held accountable and punished, a top official said.

A total of 25 cases had been received by prosecutors between the start of the year and February 15, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication, adding that eght new cases of alleged child sex abuse have been reported to authorities in the past month alone.

Juvenile Prosecution head and Advocate General Shaikha Noura bint Abdulla Al Khalifa said this number had now surged to 33.

"Unfortunately, nobody seems to be bothered about this rise in sexual abuse of children, especially within families," she said.

"We are aware of incest cases involving relatives and family members molesting children - and the number could be much larger than what is reported to the prosecution because of the stigma and shame attached.

"Most times children, who are weak and defenceless, are hushed up by the adults.”

Another emerging trend was the "grooming" of children online, with three cases recorded in the past year, Shaikha Noura said.

"These three cases are the first ones of this kind ever recorded in Bahrain," she said.

"Children today are exposed more than ever before because of the Internet, which leads to this kind of crime. "

Educational campaigns needed to be run in schools to spread awareness of the importance of protecting children online, said Shaikha Noura.

"It is not easy to trace these violators and arrest them, as they could be anywhere," she said.

"This is a new phenomenon in Bahrain, something that has come about due to globalisation and the rise of the Internet.

"Parents must be educated of the need to monitor their child while they are surfing the net and children must be educated on the hidden dangers."

Shaikha Noura called on the Information Affairs Authority (IAA) and Education Ministry to work together and help protect Bahrain's youth.

"The IAA, as of now, is playing a very limited role, while it can do much more," she said.

"I haven't seen any programmes dedicated to this issue, but the IAA has the power and tools to reach every home through the programmes they broadcast.

"The Education Ministry should also enhance its role, especially through its social workers in schools.

"We have seen children reporting incidents to visiting social workers, which shows there is a gap."

The GDN reported last month that boys as young as 11 were turning to suicide after failing to receive the necessary emotional support following sexual abuse.

A lawyer specialising in sexual assault claims said she alone had handled 25 cases over the past seven years where young rape and molestation victims subsequently attempted to take their own lives. – TradeArabia News Service