Child protection should be part of the presidential debate: KPAI

Fuente: 
The Jakarta Post
Fecha de publicación: 
28 Mayo 2014

The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) has asked the General Elections Commission (KPU) to include the topic of child protection as part of the presidential debate before the election on July 9.

"We want to push the issue of child protection as one of the debate topics for the scheduled presidential debate," KPAI chairman Asrorun Niam Sholeh said as quoted by kompas.com.

Between June 8 and July 5, there will be two presidential debates, two vice-presidential debates, and one final debate with both pairs.

Asrorun said on Monday that the electorate would like to know if the two presidential candidates -- Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) candidate Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Gerindra Party Prabowo Subianto -- had any concrete plans on how to tackle issues of child abuse.

Cases of child abuse, such as the sexual assault of a kindergarten student at the Jakarta International School, and alleged serial child rapist Andri Sobari, alias Emon, in Sukabumi, have recently surfaced in the media, triggering outrage among the general public with many demanding harsher punishments for perpetrators.

The National Police have recorded 98 child sexual abuse cases in 18 provinces as of May 7.

Asrorun said that he had already met with KPU commissioner Ferry Krunia Riskiyansyah and Juri Ardiantoro to discuss the possibility of including the topic in the debates.

In addition to the inclusion of the topic in the debates, KPAI have also asked the KPU to encourage campaigns to be hate free to make them more child-friendly. Asrorun also said that the KPU must guarantee that children will not be involved in campaigning. 

 

Source/Fuente: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/05/28/child-protection-should-be...