Jakarta – The newly-passed law on human trafficking has government officials and NGOs alike raring to wage an all-out war on the crime.
"We have been dependent solely on criminal law for years, now we finally have a law that specifically regulates human trafficking crimes," said Ratna Batara Munti, director of the Legal Aid Organization of the Indonesian Women's Association for Justice, on Friday.
The law comprises nine chapters and 67 articles and was ratified by the House of Representatives on March 20. It regulates the prevention and countering of human trafficking crimes, the protection of victims and witnesses and the accompanying legal procedures.
Women's Empowerment Minister Meutia Hatta said a synergy between the government, NGOs and society is needed for the law to reach the country's grass-roots level.
In the next six months, the government must formulate supporting regulations to form service centers for human trafficking victims, as well as a presidential regulation on a task force to coordinate, monitor and evaluate measures taken.
Meutia emphasized the importance of attracting future funding for organizations aiding victims of human trafficking.
Deputy assistant of Women's Life Quality Affairs at the Coordinating Ministry for the People's Welfare, Pardjoko, said: "We will cooperate with the US government to conduct several pilot projects to help introduce the human trafficking law to local administrations, to improve local officials' capacity in handling the crimes and to develop a more integrated evaluation report database."
The projects will be launched this March in eight regencies across five of Indonesia's 33 provinces, including West Nusa Tenggara, East Java and West Kalimantan.
The United States Agency for International Development has provided US$1.2 billion for the 30-month pilot projects, according to the deputy minister for Child Protection at the Women's Empowerment Ministry, Sumarni Dawam Rahardjo.
Human trafficking is classified as transnational, organized crime and usually exploits women and children. Japan, Malaysia and Singapore are often destination countries, while Batam, Jakarta, Pontianak, Tanjung Balai Karimun and Tanjung Pinang are common domestic destinations.
Forms of exploitation range from forced labor in factories, to prostitution and pornography. In most cases, children end up working in brothels to pay off their family's debts.
According to data from the Consortium of Indonesians Against Child Trafficking (ACT), last year a total of 106 girls from across the archipelago, ranging from 12 to 16 years of age, were discovered to be victims of human trafficking.
"The increase in the number of reported human trafficking cases should be regarded in a positive sense in that people have begun to be more aware of this kind of crime," said Meutia.
The new law carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence and a maximum fine of Rp 5 billion for involvement in the human trafficking trade.
It stipulates that all perpetrators, be they ordinary citizens, public officials, corporations or syndicates, that recruit and transfer people by force, abduct them or resort to deceit in order to exploit them, face three to 15 years' imprisonment and potential fines of between Rp 120 million and Rp 600 million. In cases involving the death of a victim, fines range from Rp 200 million to Rp 5 billion.
Punishment is raised by one-third for crimes that caused victims severe injury, death, pregnancy or the loss of their reproductive functions.