Ronna Nirmala – The country's child protection agency has received an average of 100 complaints each month related to violations of children's rights through its hotline service in the first six months of this year.
Arist Merdeka Sirait, chairman of the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas PA), said the agency had received a total of 686 reports between January and June. The agency said the reported children's rights violations increased not only in number, but also in seriousness from previous tallies.
He said 139 of the complaints involved violence among high school students, in the form of brawls. In the same period last year, only 128 cases were reported.
Twelve students were killed in brawls this year and many more were injured, according to agency records. "This shows that brawls are on the rise among teenagers," Arist said in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Komnas PA also received reports of 42 cases of child abandonment: 23 boys and 19 girls were left stranded, usually by their parents or close family members, in various locations across Indonesia.
"Thirty-three abandonment cases were related to illegal relationships, and eight cases were economic-related, while the locations included rivers [14 cases], waste dump sites [nine cases], houses [five cases], hospitals or homes [four cases], public transport or public places [one case each], and cemeteries [one case]," Arist said. Of the abandoned children, 25 were found dead and 16 survived, with the fate of the final child unknown.
There were also high suicide rates among youngsters aged 13 to 17 from middle- and low-income families. Nine children hanged themselves, eight used sharp weapons, two jumped from high places, and one drank poison.
Eight of these cases are believed to have been caused by heartbreak, seven had financial causes, four were due to family disharmony and one was related to problems at school.
Arist said the increase in child violence showed that people who should have provided security for children became the main perpetrators. "Families or parents, as one of the pillars for child protection, have failed, and have even become the parties that are feared by the children," he said.
He said it was sadly ironic that violence against children occurred in those environments where children should feel most protected, such as in homes, at school and among friends.
He encouraged the public to act against what he called "this culture of violence." "The government, schools, and mass organizations need to launch a campaign against violence," Arist declared.