Violence haunts Indonesian children as state fails to provide care

FILE PHOTO: This picture taken on June 23, 2025 shows schoolchildren in Jakarta. Jakarta, despite its status as one of the wealthiest provinces, still recorded hundreds of cases this year, driven by poverty, low education, permissive attitudes toward violence, limited awareness of children’s rights and the enduring stigma surrounding abuse. - AFP

JAKARTA: The alarming rise in child abuse in Indonesia, often at the hands of familiar persons such as family members or neighbours, has underscored the state's failure to guarantee the right of children to safe and protective care.

The Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry’s online information system (SIMFONI-PPA) reported persistently high abuse rates as of Friday (July 25), with at least 10,203 cases recorded since January, already more than half of the 2024 total of 19,628.