Barry Neild, Banda Aceh – While most Indonesian child tsunami victims are being cared for by family or friends six months after the disaster, new fears are emerging that young survivors living in tightly-packed camps are being exposed to new dangers.

Several incidents of crimes against children, including one possible case of paedophilia, are currently under investigation in devastated Aceh province, aid agencies and police say, warning that child trafficking also remains a threat.

In an effort to stave off a new crisis, the police in conjunction with the UN Children's Fund are deploying a new force of women officers, sidestepping delicate political issues to provide a lifeline for those most at risk.

Some 40 women officers completed their training earlier this month and will augment another 50 who have been paying regular visits to UNICEF children's centres on the fringes of survivor camps to keep tabs on abuse cases.

While domestic violence and crimes against children have never been a major problem in staunchly Muslim Aceh, relief organisations say the trauma of the disaster coupled with uncomfortable accommodation is a recipe for trouble.

"Because people are living in cramped conditions, there is constant friction, sometimes this can blow up," UNICEF spokeswoman Lely Djuhari told AFP.

"There have been dozens of incidents, including a possible paedophile case, a possible trafficking case, one of sexual harassment and a case of violence against children," she said.

UNICEF says 1,082 children in Indonesia are listed as "separated" from their families – a euphemism which, in most cases, now means orphaned. Of these, all but 70 are living with relatives or other families in their communities.

But even within this tight-knit support group, there is a risk that problems could develop as the stresses of living in close quarters under canvas or temporary wooden barracks manifest into domestic violence or child abuse.

That is where the policewomen come in. Teams of four officers, wearing plain clothes to reassure wary youngsters, have been making regular contact with children's centres at camps around region.

The deployment of women officers in Aceh is a breakthrough for a province where the government has previously used hardline Muslim sharia law – often seen as oppressive to women – as way of keeping a lid on a local insurgency.

However, concerns that they might be mistaken for government spies by rebel sympathisers means the policewomen do not enter the children's centres or camps and rely on referrals, possibly denying them access to those most in need.

Nevertheless, says senior officer Lieutenant Colonel Nunung Priatni, they believe they can make a difference, even if at the moment this is largely just spreading a message that there is somewhere for children and women to turn to.

"What we want to do is minimise the number of cases of abuse and send the important message that women and children do have rights and they are entitled to protection from the law," she told AFP.

The introduction of the policewomen has been welcomed by non-governmental groups involved in running the child centres. They say the new officers are a timely intervention at a time when social cohesiveness is coming unglued.

"We haven't found any cases of child abuse so far, but we are counselling parents against using violence against children and the importance of their education," said Inrayanto of the Jakarta-based Muhammadiyah organisation, which runs a child centre near Banda Aceh.

"The policewomen give us a useful back-up to reinforce our messages, particularly against drugs, which are a major concern since we found at least one case of parents abusing drugs." According to Djuhari, the one-year policewomen deployment is part of a broader programme of changes to law-enforcement in Aceh aimed at heading off any widespread victimisation of children. These include the setting-up of child-friendly courtrooms and improving services at police stations to ensure that crimes against youngsters are dealt with in a sensitive and appropriate way.

"Domestic violence is something we're very, very concerned about. But we do now have preventative mechanism which will help enormously," she said.

"This programme will have a positive effect on the mental welfare here. If people realise that criminal cases are being followed up, it will bring a lot of reassurance."