The Importance Of Sexual Education So That Children Don't Become Victims Of Harassment

Peace campaign to protect children from acts of violence, exploitation, discrimination, and sexual harassment. (ANTARA/Aditya Pradana Putra/kye/aa)

JAKARTA Economic pressure plus low public awareness about sexual violence against children is said to be one of the reasons a person commits immoral acts, even to the closest person.

In the past few days, the public has been shocked by a video containing a woman harassing a boy. Investigate, it turns out that the woman in orange is R, 22 years old. He committed this indecent act against his own 4-year-old biological child.

The disgusting incident occurred in his rented house in the Pondok Betung area, Pondok Aren, South Tangerang. The motive is suspected to be because the mother is having financial difficulties.

When the video footage went viral, R turned himself in to the South Tangerang Police, Sunday (3/6/2024). In order to facilitate the investigation, the case of an obscene mother of her biological child was transferred to the Polda Metro Jaya. The case is also related to electronic transactions.

The police have named R as a suspect. He was subject to Article 45 paragraph (1) in conjunction with Article 27 paragraph (1) of Law Number 1 of 2024 concerning ITE funds tau Article 29 in conjunction with Article 4 paragraph (1) of Law Nomoe 44 of 2008 concerning Pornography or Article 88 in conjunction with Article 76 of Law Number 35 of 2015 concerning Child Protection.

People can't stop thinking about R's disgusting behavior towards his own biological child. When other mothers try to protect their children, R even takes actions that have the potential to disrupt the child's psychology in the future.

What R did to his son made the public furious. The reason is, this immoral act can affect the victim's mental health, especially since the perpetrator is her own mother, which should be the safest place for children.

Children who experience this kind of behavior can have trauma throughout their life. In fact, it is not impossible for him to consider it a natural thing and lead to social problems in the future.

"Finally they feel that treating other people like that is normal. Why? Because it was given from childhood. So after that, it's okay, feeling used to it. So it's like a consideration for behavior that is actually wrong," said a child psychologist at the Children's Unit and Adolescent Sajiva RSK Jiwa Dharmawangsa, Mira Amir.

Meanwhile, psychologist and practitioner of the Protection of Women and Children Riza Wahyuni said that children who are victims of abuse by biological mothers must stay separate for a while, in order to avoid worse incidents.

"If conditions like this, it is better for children and mothers to be separated, to become children of the country. He must be separated so that his mother does not experience exploitation, so things that are not desirable are avoided," said Riza.

This incident started from social media Facebook. To the police, the perpetrator admitted that he received a message or Direct Message (DM) from someone claiming to be Icha Shakila on Facebook. Icha suddenly offered R R R Rp15 million if he sent a nude photo.

Due to being hit by the economy, R accepted the offer and sent a photo of himself naked to Icha's Facebook account. The offer took place on July 28, 2023.

It didn't stop there, Icha's account again asked R for a photo with a different pose. This second request is also accompanied by threats that naked photos will spread if R does not fulfill the request.

R had refused because her husband was not at home. But Icha's account continues to threaten R to have sex with her own child. However, the lure of Rp15 million promised has not been paid.

The case of R molesting his biological child has not subsided, a similar incident occurred in Bekasi, where a young mother with the initials AK, 26, was arrested by Polda Metro Jaya. Just like the case of R, AK also molested her own child because she was tempted by the offer of money from a social media account.

According to Riza, what R and AK did was motivated by two things, namely social and economic media.

"The use of social media affects a person's mind. When he is unable to do it to others, they do it to those closest to them, namely children. There are problems in the brain related to sex. Usually poverty, they are from middle to lower," he said.

Meanwhile, Mira Amir explained that the suspect was desperate to commit his depraved act because he was under threats and feelings of fear. Worried that his nude photos were scattered, R had to sacrifice his child who was still a toddler.

"In a threatened situation, a person does not have the ability to solve problems effectively," said Mila.

"Finally he took a short step. He made a decision without careful calculation," he added.

Cases of sexual abuse against children are still rife in Indonesia. Data from the Online Information System for the Protection of Women and Children (Simphony PPA) peride from January to November 2023, 15,120 cases of violence against children were found in the January Jakarta period. From that date, cases of sexual violence were dominated.

This incident reflects the lack of literacy regarding children's rights and awareness of violence against children in society. In fact, providing education to children about body parts that are allowed and should not be touched is very important to avoid children becoming victims of sexual violence.

Psychologist Sani Budiantini Hermawan said children should receive sexual education from an early age. But unfortunately, for some people this kind of thing is still considered taboo.

"When should he be taught to children? Since he was able to speak. For example, no one is allowed to touch a private body area. If there is something that is not fun, you have to tell a story," said Sani.

"It's not just a personal body part that other people shouldn't touch, but also other areas of the body that are protected by clothes. For example, the stomach, thighs. Give understanding to the child if anyone touches the section, immediately tell the person he believes in," he added.