Anton Hermansyah, Jakarta – As a result of an increase in rape cases, the government has opened a 24-hour call center to receive reports of rape.

Social Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa asked the public to utilize the call center at 1500-771, which was launched on Aug. 2. "Please utilize it to report any rape," she said at the House of Representatives complex in South Jakarta on Tuesday.

Based on reports received by the call center over the past two weeks, Khofifah continued, West Java had the most reports of rape, in which most of the victims were elementary school students. Meanwhile, most rape victims in East Java were female secondary school students.

After the 2015 gang rape of a 14-year-old girl by five males, three of whom were underage, in Sidoarjo, East Java, in which some media outlets revealed the identity of the girl, the minister appealed for the protection of victims' identities.

"Exposing the victims can negatively affect him or her," she said, adding that the victim of the 2015 Sidoarjo rape case currently lived in a barn as a consequence of the press exposure. (ags)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/08/17/call-center-opened-for-rape-victims.html