TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Marta Santos Pais, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence against Children, urges Indonesia to build a clear accountability and monitoring system and allocate a sufficient budget to prevent and handle violence against children.
"I want to invite Indonesia to take a leadership position and become a pillar in the region in establishing policies to end violence against children," she said on Thursday.
She also hoped Indonesia could be in the front line in the movement to eradicate violence against children, which is an important part in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The SDG program aims at ending violence against children, such as early marriages and mutilation of female genitalia.
She went on to appreciate Indonesia's move in banning all forms of violence against children in all levels. However, she deplored that Indonesia had no law that banned physical punishment in household and encouraged Indonesia to join with 45 countries that already had comprehensive laws that barring violence against children.
According to Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS), around 40 students aged 13 to 15 in Indonesia have reportedly been physically assaulted in the past 12 months at school. The survey was conducted in 2007.
Half of Indonesian children have also been reported to suffer physical violence at school-56 percent of them are boys and 29 percent girls.
"However, only a few of them have received professional help," said Marta.
DEWI SUCI RAHAYU
