Hotline for sexual abuse victims opened

JAKARTA (JP): The government has opened a hotline for victims who were sexually assaulted during last month's riots.

A major aim of the hotline is to collect reports from victims who may be too disheartened to directly inform security officers of such violations.

Those wishing to make a report can call (021) 3805539 or 3805559.

State Minister of Women's Affairs Tutty Alawiyah said her office opened the hotline to collect reports of sexual abuse from last month's riots.

"The hotline is called Pos Katabunga which stands for buka mata buka telinga (open your eyes and ears)," she said here Saturday.

"We are very concerned and we condemn the inhumanity of these people. We are trying to probe reports of sexual abuse of women, not only in Jakarta but also nationwide. We have also set up an investigation team," she explained.

The team is headed by the ministry's assistant for socio- cultural development, Sri Hardjoso, and a ministry sociology expert, Wiek Wibadswo.

Tutty expressed disappointment that activists investigating the riots have yet to provide her with concrete information on those reportedly abused.

It is not surprising that we are finding it difficult to launch an investigation, she said.

"We have even received phone calls from disgruntled people, some of whom have used abusive language and accused us of being ignorant," she lamented.

Sri Hardjoso said the ministry still had no accurate data on the number of victims, but predicted it could number between 50 and 100. (ivy)