Minister Urges Parents to Protect Children from Pornography

Pemalang, C Java (Antara Bali) - Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa has urged parents to guard children from pornography that could trigger sexual crimes such as what had happened in Bengkulu last April.

"Parents must be able to guard their children, at least educate them," Minister Khofifah said here, Saturday.

Fourteen youngsters who raped and killed 14-year-old Yuyun in Bengkulu Province, Sumatra, had been influenced by alcoholic drinks and pornographic content, she said.

"The triggers, I think, are pornographic content and alcoholic beverages," she said.

Therefore, parents must open their eyes to the possibility that their children might have accessed pornographic content from foreign as well as domestic sites, she remarked.
To stop them from doing that, parents must also adapt themselves to information technology, she added.

The minister cited a statement released by the Commission for Protection of Indonesian Children (KPAI) that some 70 percent of high school students in Jakarta and suburban areas had accessed pornographic sites.

Parents also need to be educated about how to guard their children from pornographic contents, she also said.

"Public education must be carried out. By who? By every stakeholder, such as the government, and NGOs," she said.

She also reminded parents that in accordance with the Law on Child Protection, parents are responsible for the protection of their children.

Yuyun was gang raped until she died from the assault in her village in Kasiah Kasubun, Padang Ulak Tanding, Bengkulu, on April 2, 2016.

The rapists were in an inebriated state when they assaulted the eighth grader.

Of the 14 rapists, two are still at large, while 12 have been detained, including seven under 18 years of age or considered juvenile according to the Indonesian law, so they cannot be jailed for life but can only be awarded a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.

Those above 18 years of age could face a maximum punishment of life sentence for a gang rape that claimed the victim's life.

The seven juvenile suspects are identified by the initials D alias J (17), A (17), FS (17), and S (17), apart from DI (17), EG (16), and S (16).

The parents of such criminals could also be punished if it is proved that they were covering up their crimes of their children.
The five other arrested suspects are TW (19), Sk (19), Bb (20), Fs (19), and Zl (23). (WDY)