Deputy Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR RI) Lestari Moerdijat has called for ratification of sexual violence prevention bill following increased prevalence of sexual violence cases in Indonesia’s educational institutions.
“I am extremely concerned regarding various acts of sexual violence that occurred in a number of educational institutions, both public and religious ones,” she said in a statement here on Sunday.
“Stakeholders should take immediate action to resolve this human rights violation case,” she affirmed.
She made this statement concerning a number of suspected sexual harassment cases in a number of educational institutions in Bandung and Tasikmalaya, West Java, as well as Cilacap, Central Java.
Moerdijat was very concerned that these cases would leave dozens of victims traumatized both physically and mentally. In addition to these children, their immediate and extended families had also been affected.
Sexual violence toward children is a crime that infringes on human rights and could destroy the future of the nation’s next generation.
“Sexual violence toward children is against our constitution which mandates that every citizen receives full protection in obtaining their basic rights as human being,” she elaborated.
Hence, she urged stakeholders to accelerate the process to pass Sexual Violence Prevention Bill into a law as one of the instrument to prevent this human rights violation that threatens the younger generation.
Protecting every citizen from all kinds of threats, including sexual violence, is a constitutional mandate that should be prioritized, Moerdijat said.
Every official in the executive, legislative, and judiciary branches have the responsibility to uphold this mandate of the Constitution, she asserted.
Earlier, Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Bintang Puspayoga drew a parallel between the issue of violence against women and the iceberg phenomenon.
“Violence against women can be likened to the iceberg phenomenon wherein the real problem is much deeper and more complex than what is seen on the surface,” Puspayoga remarked during a webinar here on Thursday.
Source: Antara News