Children Need More Protection

A number of regulations have been made and child protection campaigns have also been regularly promoted, but all of these are still not enough to protect children from sexual violence.

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

Child protection campaign mural on the walls of residents' houses in the Cinere area, Depok, West Java, Monday (20/7/2020).

The case of sexual abuse of 15 children in Serang regency, Banten, which was revealed recently (Kompas, 22/11/2022), adds to the long list of cases of sexual violence against children in the country. This indicates that children are very vulnerable to sexual violence by the adults around them.

Based on data from the National Police Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), sexual violence dominated the cases of 2,267 children who became victims of crime in January-May 2022. Data from the Online Information System for the Protection of Women and Children (Symphony) in 2021 shows that out of 11,952 cases of violence against children, 7,004 cases (58.6 percent) were cases of sexual violence. Most of the perpetrators were adults around the children including parents and relatives, who are supposed to protect them.