an Eldis Resource

This paper reports the findings from research on the domestic legislation and legal procedures in Indonesia as they relate to the commercial sexual exploitation of children. It analyses these laws and procedures against the relevant regional and international standards and recommends legislative and procedural reforms to better protect children from commercial sexual exploitation.

The report is divided into five sections: it describes the methodology and an overview of the commercial sexual exploitation of children in Indonesia; outlines international, regional and Indonesian laws related to the commercial sexual exploitation of children, and identifies gaps between Indonesian laws and the relevant international and regional standards; outlines legal procedures for cases involving the commercial sexual exploitation of children, the treatment of children as victims and offenders under the law, and the current monitoring systems in place for cases involving the commercial sexual exploitation of children and also identifies any divergence between the procedures outlined and international norms; and finally presents recommendations to strengthen existing Indonesian laws and legal procedures to better protect children against commercial sexual exploitation.

The study finds that Indonesian laws and legal procedures fail to protect children sufficiently from commercial sexual exploitation and are not in compliance with international standards. As a result, most criminal acts, such as recruiting, transporting and receiving a child for the purpose of sexual exploitation, fall outside of the scope of these provisions.

The main recommendations include:

• the definition of trafficking contained Indonesia’s Bill on Trafficking in Persons be revised to adhere fully to the definition contained in the UN Trafficking Protocol regarding trafficking of children, and then that the Bill be enacted
• the draft Bill on pornography be revised to prohibit child pornography explicitly
• the Bill on Witness Protection be revised and enacted to protect child victims during the judicial process
• formal internal procedures concerning treatment of children by the national police, public prosecutors and court personnel be developed and implemented
• victim protection staff, police investigators, public prosecutors and judges be trained on issues related to the commercial sexual exploitation of children, including child friendly procedures for child victims of commercial sexual exploitation
• a Children’s Desk be established in the national police force at all levels with authority to deal with all matters involving child victims and juvenile offenders
• a standard format for a Memorandum of Understanding be developed for cooperation between NGOs and the police, based on existing cooperation in various districts
• coordination between the National Police and the Office of the Attorney-General needs to be improved in order to investigate more effectively and indict pilot cases under the provisions relating to commercial sexual exploitation of children in the Child Protection Act
• a National Committee on Child Protection must be established and provided with appropriate budget and resources to monitor, supervise and coordinate its implementation

[adapted from author]

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