State Urged to Act on Child Abuse Cases in Daycares
Member of the House of Representatives (DPR) RI Eva Monalisa has urged the state to take action in supervising daycares. Currently, cases of child abuse, particularly those entrusted to daycares, continue to recur.
“The state must be present with strict regulations, real oversight, and uncompromising sanctions,” said the PKB Faction politician in a written statement in Jakarta on Sunday, 26 April 2026.
Child abuse cases have previously gone viral, such as the one in Sawangan, Depok, West Java, in 2024, where a toddler was scalded with hot water by a caregiver. Now, another child abuse case at a daycare has occurred. At least 53 children are suspected to be victims of abuse at Little Aresha daycare in Yogyakarta.
“This is no longer mere negligence, but an indication of a serious and recurring failure in the child protection system,” she stated.
Eva said that these child abuse cases constitute a grave violation of children’s rights that cannot be tolerated in any form. Therefore, she stressed that the state must not fail due to oversight lapses. “If similar cases continue to recur from Depok to Yogyakarta, it is clear that there is something wrong with the daycare supervision system in Indonesia,” said this Member of Commission VII of the DPR RI.
According to her, this issue is no longer about individual actors, but a systemic failure. Because when the number of victims reaches dozens of children, it shows a collective failure, both from managers, supervisors, and regulations. “Children are the most vulnerable group, and the state is obliged to protect them. I urge the government to immediately conduct a national audit of all daycares in Indonesia,” she said.
She also urged the implementation of strict standards for caregivers and daycare operations, including real-time supervision through transparent CCTV for parents. She pushed for the imposition of maximum sanctions without compromise on perpetrators and managers, as well as the establishment of a quick and responsive complaint system across all regions. “Daycare cases are no longer about individual actors, but a failure in the child supervision and protection system. The state must be present.”
In the case of Little Aresha daycare in Yogyakarta, this daycare did not have a permit. “This incident must be a turning point, not just fleeting news. If the state fails to protect children in what should be the safest space, then we are facing a real child protection crisis,” she stated.