News Story
How to Protect Kids from The Pedophiles
7 June 2017
Editor, translator: Gregorius Giovani | Article in English
Editor, translator: Gregorius Giovani | Article in English
A young girl sat on a bench with two women at History Park, Bandung, Wednesday, May 31st, 2017. (Gregorius Giovani)
JAKARTA - Indonesia was shocked by the finding of a Facebook private group in which the people share porn photos and videos, mostly featuring kids regardless their gender. The four administrators in the group, who handled almost 7,500 members, were arrested in March. The group has been known as an adult community to share their own stories with 600+ medias by the time they were arrested, featuring child porn. Since then, the Regional Police of Metro Jaya, who arrested the administrators, has gained the support from the people to make the case clear and safely protect the very young generation.
Two months before the arrest, the similar incident that involved three men happened in Sorong, West Papua. Allegedly being drunk, the three men raped and killed a 4-year-old girl named Kasia Mamangsa. They were caught by the local citizens shortly after the finding of a corpse on a river. The cases remind us of the other incidents that happened early before in cities or regions across Indonesia. Amongst them are the Jakarta International School (JIS) case, the raping and killing of Yuyun, Puncak case of prostituted under-age boys, and the kid predator from Sukabumi, West Java.
“Well it is a very worrying issue, and this also becomes a duty for us as a parent to look after our children,” said Beatrice (39), a mother of two kids. “We hope this is not happening again in the future.”
Stating the same, Paulina (40), a mother of 5-year-old boy, said, “This is worrying, regarding the fact that our kids are already playing gadgets lately.” She added that the perpetrator, assumed to have a mental disorder, to be taken for therapy. “So they do not have the urge to do that again,” she told.
Children were playing with water gun at History Park, Bandung, Wednesday, May 31st, 2017. (Gregorius Giovani)
According to a psychologist Wiwit Puspitasari Dewi, those are called pedophiles, suffering a mental disorder that they tend to have a crush on younger children, mostly under the age of thirteen. “They also have a sexual desire to having sex with kids,” she said.
There are many things driving them to be pedophiles, and there is no exact reason why.
“It is said that the mental disorder is genetic,” she said. Another fact is that the pedophiles are commonly men. “So it is related to the hormones of men.”
On the other hand, the disorder could come from a traumatic experience in the past. There are many cases showing that the pedophiles were actually sexual abuse victims in their early life. Many of them also have a lower intelligence than the average. The other is that they tend to have a wrong understanding related to their cognitive skill.
“For example, when they are close with kids, they say that the kids like them,” said Wiwit who is also a psychology lecture of a reputable private university in Tangerang.
The disorder does not happen in a specific culture, so it happens globally. Therefore, the pedophiles exist worldwide including Indonesia. The number of pedophiles are low, and when they meet the other people who have the same principle, they tend to unite and share stories.
Speaking about their life, Wiwit added, “One thing to remember is that they have a distress, a sexual desire with kids, and they need people who are just the same to understand each other.”
There are three signs that could show if a person is pedophile. First, they have the sexual desire and have sex with pre-adolescent kids. Second, regarding of their behaviors, they tend to have a distress and interpersonal problems with others. Third, they are sixteen or older, with the interval of around five years for their kids crush.
“So it still needs assessment from a mental health professional to decide,” Wiwit added.
The impact for victim is said to be dependable on the kind of sexual abuse the victims get and the age they experience it. There are some who have trouble when communicating to others, anxieties on how they should interact, and trauma. “There are some impacts that will show up when they are getting older.”
For the victims, they need accompaniment and therapy based on how severe the experience is. The way we treat victims, kids and adults, are actually different.
“Sometimes we lead the questions careless and the children answers it wrong instead of the right one,” she explained on the common mistake of helping the victims.
Not all of them are criminals,” she said clearly. They turn into criminals when they do it without permission, or do it to the children. The pedophiles do sexual abuse to the children, but not vice versa. “When someone does sexual abuse to children, it does not mean that they are pedophiles.”
The Indonesian Commission on Child Protection (KPAI) office, Jl. Teuku Umar, Central Jakarta.
(Caroline Shafira)
In a different occasion, the Head of Secretariat of the Indonesian Commission on Child Protection (KPAI) Retno Adji Prasetiaju said that the KPAI immediately took action after the case of the Facebook group emerged. The Head of KPAI HM. Asrorun Ni’am Sholeh with the Commisioner of Pornography and Cybercrime Maria Advianti have already met the Facebook Indonesia team and coordinated with the Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kominfo) to give a warning.
“We were asked by the police to keep an eye after the Puncak case of prostituted under-age boys,” said Retno. In helping the victims, KPAI work together with the Indonesian National Police, the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Social Affairs on rehabilitation, and some foundations. “We do not give a special protection but supervision.”
The statistic shows that the pedophiles cases are increasing, and the climax was the raping of Yuyun incident in 2016. “After that, there is Government Regulation in Lieu of Law of Emasculation that KPAI bring for heavier penalties,” Retno told.
Looking at the condition now, she explained that it is hard for the children to be free from the threat, just like how the parents are busy now and entrust their child to nannies or relatives. Many single mother is afraid that her children would be victims of a pedophile stepfather. “Even now there are many biological father who does incest with his children.”
The Head of Secretariat of the Indonesian Commission on Child Protection (KPAI) Retno Adji Prasetiaju spoke about the pedophiles in Indonesia at KPAI Office, Central Jakarta, Monday, June 5th, 2017. (Caroline Shafira)
KPAI with the government are looking forward to establishing a new government regulation (PP) that regulates the further step of emasculation and a social punishment of publishing the identities of the perpetrators.
“There is a concept of family endurance,” Retno said. With this concept, there is a good communication with love and no violence between the family. “So the children will respect their parents the way they feel that they are safe.”
In helping the children victims, KPAI also provide a hotline at (+62)21-319 015 56, e-mail at info@kpai.go.id and humas@kpai.go.id, website at kpai.go.id, and soon on Google Play Store.
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Agnes Tahir Purba
Mohammad Ichsan Rafi
Alfiany
Marten Apriliano
Gregorius Giovani D. A.
Rr. Caroline Shafira
