Member of Commission III of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Abdullah, asked the National Police of the Republic of Indonesia (Polri) through the cyber unit to intensify cyber patrols to minimize the prevalence of child grooming or harassment cases, especially those that occur on social media.
According to him, massive and proactive cyber patrols are the key to protecting Indonesian children from digital-based manipulation and sexual exploitation practices.
"By intensifying cyber patrols aimed at cracking down on child grooming perpetrators on social media, it is hoped that the National Police can save many Indonesian children who are currently vulnerable to being manipulated and sexually exploited," said Abdullah as quoted by ANTARA, Sunday, January 18.
The encouragement was based on empathy and concern for the experience conveyed by Aurelie Moeremans, who revealed that she had been a victim of child grooming through her memoir titled Broken Strings.
According to him, Aurelie's experience should not be seen as a mere personal case, but as an iceberg phenomenon of sexual crimes against children, especially in the digital space, which is still largely undisclosed.
He also quoted UNICEF data in 2022, which stated that 56 percent of children who experience online sexual exploitation never tell adults or authorities, including the police, what they have experienced.
This is due to the victim's ignorance of having to report, shame and fear of causing problems for the family.
In this situation, the National Police's Cyber Unit has a strategic role in handling child grooming cases on social media by monitoring social media, chat groups, forums, and online games, then identifying the grooming perpetrator's account and tracing their communication manipulation patterns to children who are target targets.
In addition, he also asked the National Police to be active in preventing and recovering child grooming victims on social media. Prevention is carried out by providing education to the public about the meaning of child grooming, examples of perpetrators, modus, then understanding the characteristics of children who are vulnerable to being targeted.
The police, he said, must also explain the safe reporting mechanism and the recovery of child-friendly victims.
"All of this must be done by the National Police in collaboration with various stakeholders, ranging from schools, families, neighborhoods, social media platforms, to related ministries and agencies," he said.
For this reason, he emphasized that perpetrators of child grooming on social media must be given firm sanctions as a form of state protection for children. These sanctions have been regulated through the Child Protection Law, TPKS Law, ITE Law and Criminal Code.
"This firm sanction is important to provide a deterrent effect, narrow the space for perpetrators, and break the chain of child grooming on social media. The state must not be defeated by digital predators," he said.
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