Child abuse still rampant: Activist
Child abuse still rampant: Activist
Dewi Santoso, Jakarta
The country's legal system is unable to protect child victims of
domestic violence, an activist says.
Office manager of the National Commission for Child Protection
(Komnas Anak) Rachma Fitriati said, although accurate figures
were hard to come by, the number of cases of child abuse
continued to be high, as the law on child protection was
inadequate.
Enacted in September 2002, Law No. 23/2002 on child protection
says that minors have the right to protection from
discriminatory, exploitative and abusive treatment that could
physically, mentally or socially harm them.
Article 80 of the law states that anyone found guilty of
abusing or threatening a child could face a maximum sentence of
10 years imprisonment and a fine of up to Rp 200 million
(US$21,276).
"Yet, cases of child abuse keep occurring, and it's difficult
to bring the perpetrators to court as most of the victims are
afraid of the consequences of reporting their own parents," said
Rachma.
The nation was shocked by the death of seven-year-old boy Arie
Hanggara in 1984, after he was beaten by his father. Recently, in
April, the body of four-year-old boy Bangkit Pangestu was found
by his aunt at her residence in South Jakarta. Bangkit was
allegedly strangled to death by his own father, who is now
standing trial at the South Jakarta District Court.
Data from Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) in
Central Jakarta shows that cases of child abuse handled by the
hospital increased to 285 cases in 2003, from 276 in 2002 and 210
in 2001.
Rachma said the country needed a law on witness protection
that would require a person who witnessed child abuse to report
it.
She suggested that Indonesia emulate Malaysia and the
Philippines, where the law on witness protection has come into
force.
"Such a law must spell out that anyone who witnesses child
abuse, including at the hands of their parents, must report it to
the police or face a fine," she told The Jakarta Post recently.
In the Philippines, the law on witness protection allows a
witness to testify only once. This is intended to protect the
victim from the trauma of recounting their experience over and
over again.
Child psychologist Seto Mulyadi said parents that were guilty
of abuse often delusively believed that they owned their children
and, therefore, could do anything to them.
However, Seto conceded that financial problems also play a
role in child abuse.
"When parents encounter financial difficulties, they are
easily depressed and angered. The may vent their emotions out on
their children -- which is very wrong," he said.
Sociologist Darmanto Yatman agreed with Seto, but said the
root cause of most cases of child abuse was poverty.
"Those who are from poor families likely receive a poor
education, thus, their understanding of children is limited,"
said Darmanto, who is also a lecturer at Diponegoro University in
Semarang.
To curb the rate of child abuse, he said, parents needed to
better understand child psychology.
Komnas Anak has been disseminating Law No. 23/2002 on child
protection so as to allow both parents and children to become
familiar with it.
"We're also campaigning against child abuse by holding forums
to discuss the issue with teachers, parents and children at
elementary, junior high and senior high schools," said Rachma.
Forums have already been held at, among other schools, Bunda
Maria Elementary School in Depok and SMP 56 state junior high
school in Melawai, South Jakarta.
Key articles in Law No. 23/2002 on child protection
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Article 13: Every child has the right to protection from
discriminatory, exploitative, abusive and unfair treatment.
Article 16 (1): Every child has the right to protection from
torture, abuse and punishments that are inhumane.
Article 54: Every school child is entitled to protection from any
violence perpetrated by teachers, the schools' management or
their fellow students.
Article 76 (1): Komnas Anak has the duty to provide the public
with information on laws concerning child protection, gather data
and information on cases of child abuse, receive complaints and
conduct an investigation on the implementation on laws concerning
child protection.