Violence Against Children Cannot Be Reconciled According To The Mandate Of Law

SEMARANG – Central Java Police Chief Inspector General Ahmad Luthfi's steps in leading his staff in handling cases of violence against women and children received appreciation from the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) of the Indonesian Women's Association for Justice (APIK) Semarang.

LBH, which focuses on providing legal assistance to victims of children and women, said that the Central Java Regional Police had taken progressive steps to deal with it.

Some of these progressive steps include; a legal process against the perpetrators in a strict and proportionate manner, facilitating the victim's right to restitution to psychological recovery through the trauma healing team owned by the Central Java Regional Police.

Director of LBH APIK Semarang Raden Rara Ayu Hermawati Sasongko said, according to her annual records, while working with the Central Java Police when they were assistants or attorneys for victims of violence against women and children, especially in the context of sexual violence, her party had never received an offer of mediation in its settlement.

"That is in accordance with the mandate of Law number 12 of 2022 concerning Crimes of Sexual Violence (TPKS), where cases of sexual violence cannot be resolved peacefully," she said via telephone, Sunday, January 29.

The progressive steps referred to by Rara include, among other things, investigators providing information to victims regarding their rights, including submitting restitution rights, alias compensation for victims. One of them happened in Kendal, in 2020.

Rara said that this was the first court decision in Central Java in which there was a right of restitution for the victim. Then the same thing followed in Wonosobo in 2021, as the second court decision which listed the right of restitution in it.

Most recently, the progressive step taken by the Central Java Regional Police under captain Inspector General Ahmad Luthfi was the case of sexual violence that befell underage women in Brebes at the end of December 2022.

The case was mediated by the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) there, but then the Central Java Regional Police ordered it to be prosecuted. In the end, the perpetrators were caught and prosecuted further.

The investigation also continues to pay attention to the rights of the victim, taking sides with them in the context of protection, including among the perpetrators who are still minors who are also treated according to the mandate of the law.

LBH APIK Semarang, said Rara, in the context of collaboration with the Central Java Police it has been going on since 2016, intensely. The Central Java Regional Police through the Women and Children Protection Unit. Apart from that, the Bhayangkara Hospital in Semarang and the local Women and Children Protection Agency were also involved.

"We really appreciate the trauma healing carried out by the Central Java Regional Police team. This is very necessary, because victims (women and children, especially sexual violence) are vulnerable to becoming perpetrators in the future if not handled properly. Vulnerable to becoming a perpetrator could be due to ignorance about what he experienced. This requires assistance and a trauma healing team. Because in addition to victims needing the assistance of legal aid, victims also need services for psychological recovery," concluded Rara.