https://youtu.be/XnSfiUbnudsJakarta (ANTARA) - Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Bintang Puspayoga drew attention to myriad challenges faced in handling violence, including the gap between the number of victims and available institutions providing services to them.
“The first challenge is the gap between the number of victims and their families that can speak up (about the violence) and the available institutions that can handle it,” Puspayoga noted in a press conference here, Thursday.
The second challenge is the gap between handling efforts that are still limited and the wide-ranging cases of violence, while the third challenge is the extensive coverage area that should be handled.
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“Hence, in terms of handling, victims have not received justice quickly and easily and have not received the recovery they needed," Puspayoga noted.
The minister stressed that the government remains committed to prevention and handling efforts in cases of sexual violence against women and children.
In 2020, the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection had received an additional implementation function, specifically as the final referral service, as regulated in Presidential Regulation Number 65 of 2020.
Despite the challenges in implementing its function as the final referral service, the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection has taken various steps in handling cases of violence against women and children with the application of fast, comprehensive, and integrated principles.
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“When we talk about this task and function, it indeed has opened rooms for us to directly provide services. However, we are limited by Law Number 23 of 2014 regarding the regional government. There are things that we can directly handle and those that we can only coordinate with,” she stated.
Based on data collected by the Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry, cases of violence against children had reached 11,057 in 2019, 11,279 in 2020, and 12,566 as of November 2021.
The most common form of violence experienced by children was sexual violence, at 45 percent; psychological violence, 19 percent; and physical violence, 18 percent.
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Meanwhile, in the last three years, 26,200 cases of violence against women were registered in the country.
In 2019, some 8,800 cases of violence against women were recorded, while in 2020, the number fell to 8,600 cases.
During the period from January to November 2021, some 8,800 cases of violence against women were reported in the country. Some 39 percent of the women mostly experienced physical violence, while 29.8 percent endured psychological violence, and 11.33 percent were subject to sexual violence.
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Translator: Anita Permata, Raka Adji
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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