Violence against children in Indonesia – Make the Invisible Visible

- By Marc Lucet, Deputy Representative UNICEF Indonesia -

Last week I had the privilege of representing UNICEF at a press conference given by the Minister of Social Affairs, Salim Segaf al Jufri, on the issue of violence against children in Indonesia. The press conference was also attended by the National Development Planning Ministry, the Indonesian Child Protection Commission and the National Commission of Child Protection. Given the many reports about child abuse in Indonesia in recent weeks, many journalists, both from national and international media attended.

Minister Segaf al Jufri called for a national movement to defeat violence against children. As a global organization, UNICEF is at the forefront of international efforts to prevent children from suffering violence and abuse, and so we welcome this initiative very much. It is exactly what needs to be done.

Indonesia launches #ENDviolence against children

By Michael Klaus

Edi Suharto (left), Director of Child Social Welfare at the Ministry of Social Affairs calling the national child helpline TeSA 129 to learn about the kind of issues that are usually reported by children, with the Deputy Minister for Child Protection, Waju Hartomo, UNICEF Indonesia National Ambassador Ferry Salim and UNICEF Deputy Representative Marc Lucet listening. ©UNICEF Indonesia/2013/Dionisio.

JAKARTA, 20 November 2013 – On World Children’s Day, Indonesia joined the global initiative #ENDviolence against Children.

“Let’s be clear: The launch of the campaign today is only the beginning of a long process. We have been able to form a strong alliance to raise awareness about the impact of violence on children and to strengthen prevention and response systems. Over the coming months, we will work hard to get many more partners on board,” said UNICEF Indonesia Deputy Representative Marc Lucet during the event that was organized together with the Ministries of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, Social Affairs, and Communication and Information as well as the Commission on Child Protection.

So far, Indonesia – a nation of almost 240 million people with a third of them being younger than 18 years - has no national data on violence against children. The Government with support from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and UNICEF is undertaking a national survey on the prevalence of physical, emotional and sexual violence against boys and girls in 25 of the 33 provinces. Results and recommendations will be published next year.