The government needs to properly rehabilitate child victims of sexual violence to prevent them from becoming the attackers in the future, an expert has said.

Child psychologist Seto Mulyadi said the victims should be approached on a case-by-case basis. The treatment quality for those children depended on their behavioral patterns or level of trauma, he added.

“If the child victims are not taken care of with proper rehabilitation, they could be more unconfident, which could lead them to suicide or even to take revenge in the future,” Seto said on Monday.

“For instance, a girl victim might feel that her life is completely ruined, so she turns into a prostitute while planning revenge on another victim. It is possible.”

On May 25, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo signed a government regulation in lieu of law ( Perppu ) stipulating several punishments for rapists of children, including chemical castration, the public disclosure of offenders’ identities and the installation of electronic detection devices for the monitoring of perpetrators after they had completed sentences.

According to the Perppu, offenders could also be sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment or the death penalty, in accordance with the circumstances of the case.

However, National Commission of Violence Against Women ( Komnas Perempuan ) chairperson Azriana has said that the Perppu does not accommodate rehabilitation and preventive measures for the victims.

Seto also urged the government to take full responsibility for the rehabilitation of children from poor families.

“It is as if the state is not there for them. Moreover, many sexual violence cases have not been properly processed and they have been forgotten as time goes by,” he said.

Source:
courtesy of THE JAKARTA POST

by The Jakarta Post

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