Hotline for sexual abuse victims opened

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)