Jakarta Globe, Bayu Marhaenjati & SP/Natasia Christy, Apr 18, 2014
Almost 60,000 people have signed a petition for changes in the Child Protection Law. (JG Screen Grab/Change.org) |
Jakarta. In
the wake of the recent sexual assault of a kindergarten student at Jakarta
International School, an online petition seeking for the revision of the
country’s Child Protection Law has garnered nearly 60,000 supporters in three
days.
The
petition at change.org, which was created on Tuesday by a woman named Fellma
Panjaitan, asked for a revision of the 2002 Law on Child Protection, which
hands convicted sexual assailants a prison sentence of three to 15 years.
Through the
petition, Fellma is calling on the House of Representatives to revise the law
and hand out harsher punishments for perpetrators of sexual assault, saying the
current sentence is far too short to even begin to compensate for the life-long
trauma these criminals inflict on their victims.
“Help me
[change the law] to so perpetrators will be severely punished. There should be
no compromise for sexual predators. We need to participate in building a safe
environment for our children,” Fellma wrote on the website.
The appeal
has collected more than 59,000 supporters as of 2:30 p.m. local time, and is
near the 75,000 needed for the petition to be sent to the House’s Commission
VIII, which oversees social affairs and women’s empowerment.
Arief Aziz,
founder of Change.org Indonesia, said none of the site’s petitions have
garnered this many votes in such a short time.
The case of
the alleged sexual assault on a 6-year-old boy by two janitorial staff members
at one of the city’s top international schools has gripped the entire country
since reports surfaced earlier this week.
Jakarta
Police have named two suspects in the case: Agun Iskandar and Virgiawan Amin.
Jakarta
Police Spokesman Sr. Cmr. Rikwanto said investigators are still looking into
the possible involvement of three other bathroom attendants, including Afrischa
Styani, Aswar and Zainal Abidin. Laboratory tests on Aswar and Zainal are
currently being processed.
Meanwhile,
Lydia Freyani Hawadi, directorate general of early- and non-formal education at
the Education and Culture Ministry, said the ministry has formed an
investigative team to audit JIS’s kindergarten and its learning process.
Lydia
further explained that the school’s early childhood education campus is
actually illegal as JIS has only been issued a permit for its elementary and
high school levels.
“JIS
thought the license to run a kindergarten is equivalent to that of the
elementary-school level issued by the Elementary and Secondary Education
Directorate. However, these permits are different,“ Lydia said.
Teacher held images of dozens of Southbank school pupils on computer
London school confirms its pupils were abused by teacher in FBI investigation
FBI investigates London links of teacher who abused 90 boys
Police to Probe Alleged US Sex Predator’s Time at JIS
Related Articles:
Parents File Lawsuit Against JIS, Ministry
Police Widen Investigation of JIS Janitors
JIS Parent Alleges School Has History of Abuse
Police Widen Investigation of JIS Janitors
JIS Parent Alleges School Has History of Abuse
William James Vahey in 2013, left, and 2004. The teacher, 64,
killed himself after confessing to drugging and molesting
children while on field trips. Photograph: AP
|
Teacher held images of dozens of Southbank school pupils on computer
London school confirms its pupils were abused by teacher in FBI investigation
FBI investigates London links of teacher who abused 90 boys
Police to Probe Alleged US Sex Predator’s Time at JIS
No comments:
Post a Comment