Who's to Blame for the Rising Sexual Violence?
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Kamis, 1 Januari 1970 07:00 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Amid the government's apathy over the barbaric gang-rape and brutal murder of a 14-year old girl in Bengkulu, new reports are emerging on other similar cases in other parts of the country.
The North Sulawesi unit of the Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry recently reported the violent abuse of an underage girl in Gorontalo by a group of males, of which two of them may have been members of the local police force. And these are just a few which made it to public scrutiny.
There may be others that we do not read about, conveniently covered-up. Amid cries for harsher punishment than 10-years in prison as demanded by the prosecutors, or outright castration as reportedly suggested by the social affairs minister, why isn’t anyone looking at the root causes of this increasing violence?
Pornography and declining values? Not enough parental and teacher supervision? Excessive focus on spiritualism by religious leaders and not enough on real, day-to-day moral issues? A holistic approach to educating and nurturing our youths is what we should be looking at.
As for the perpetrators, instead of longer sentences and castration, why not "educate them and build awareness on the consequences of their crimes, so they wont become repeat offenders?" said Yuniyanti Chuzaifah, deputy chair of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (KomnasPerempuan).
YULI ISMARTONO