Lately, social media has been horrified by the news of a child being abused by his own biological father for skipping school. The news of this physical and verbal abuse became viral on the internet as there were previous reports of domestic violence by the same man towards his former wife.
How is a child protected under Indonesian Law? Let us see in the Government Regulation in Lieu of Law Number 1 of 2016 and Law Number 35 of 2014 as amended to Law Number 23 of 2002 concerning Child Protection (“Child Protection Law”).
By definition, a child is someone who is a person under 18 (eighteen) years old, including those who are still in the womb. Meanwhile, child protection is all activities to ensure and protect children and their rights so that they can live, grow, develop and participate optimally in accordance with human dignity and values, and receive protection from violence and discrimination.
The state and Indonesia’s government are also obliged and responsible for respecting and guaranteeing the human rights of every child without distinction of ethnicity, religion, race, class, gender, culture and language, legal status of the child, order of birth of the child, and physical and/or mental condition. In order to increase the effectiveness of the implementation of child protection, an independent organization called Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) was formed. The Indonesian Child Protection Commission has following duties based on Article 72 of Child Protection Law such as:
- supervising the implementation of the protection and fulfillment of children’s rights, providing input and suggestions in the formulation of policies regarding the implementation of child protection;
- collecting data and information regarding child protection;
- receiving and reviewing community complaints regarding violations of children’s rights;
- mediating disputes over violations of children’s rights;
- cooperating with institutions formed by the community in the field of child protection; and
- submitting a report to the authorities regarding an alleged violation of the Child Protection Law.
Due to the news of child abuse, we could refer to Article 16 of Child Protection Law where every child has the right to receive protection from being subjected to persecution, torture or inhumane punishment. To note that based on Article 26 (a) of Child Protection Law parents are obliged and responsible for nurturing, educating and protecting children. This action of a violence towards a child could be deemed as a criminal act with sanctions to be punished with imprisonment for a maximum of 3 (three) years 6 (six) months and/or a fine of up to Rp200,000,000.00 (two hundred million Rupiah) based on the level of victim’s injury according to Article 80 of Child Protection Law. This article also further emphasized that if the perpetrators were the child’s parents, they would be subjected to additional sanctions of ⅓ (one third).
Focusing on child protection, based on Article 59A of Child Protection Law, the Government can give special protection for Child, which includes a victim of physical and/or psychological violence. This is carried out through efforts, such as:
- prompt handling, including treatment and/or physical, psychological and social rehabilitation, as well as prevention of diseases and other health problems;
- psychosocial assistance during treatment until recovery;
- provision of social assistance for children who come from underprivileged families; and
- providing protection and assistance in every judicial process.
Some update regarding the viral news, the case was followed up by South Jakarta Metro Police investigators examining a number of witnesses also collaborated with DKI Jakarta’s Integrated Service Center for Empowerment of Women and Children (P2TP2A DKI Jakarta), a district extension of Indonesian Child Protection Commission, for the purposes of counseling for the child as a victim via suara.com.
This constitutes merely our initial review of Child Protection under Indonesian Law and must not be treated as our legal opinion. Any use of this other than for your internal or personal reference, is prohibited, unless a prior written consent has been obtained from us.
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Sunny Sabaru (Co-Founding Partner): ssabaru@rspstrategic.com
Claudein Kezia Lainsamputty (Associate): ckezia@rspstrategic.com
Celine Tangnandez Wijaya (Associate): cwijaya@rspstrategic.com
