Children are (supposedly) our future Primastuti Handayani  ;   Managing editor at The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA POST,  02 Maret 2014

                                                                                                                        

                                                                                         

                                                      

"Let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be..." (The Greatest Love of All, c. 1977, first sung by George Benson ) If all adults reminisced about their childhoods, we might never hear stories of abused children. If only adults were willing to share their abundant love with children, probably none would die from malnourishment and mistreatment. But reality bites. The news of abused toddlers at Samuel’s Home orphanage in Gading Serpong housing complex, Tangerang regency, shocked many. The allegations were first reported to the National Police on Feb. 11 by a legal aid foundation. Allegations surfaced after a 20-year-old orphan escaped and reported mistreatment to the orphanage donor. Reports said seven orphans ran away after being beaten up, starved and made to sleep in dog cages. The independent National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas PA) and the police were also informed that a three-month old baby had died at the orphanage on Feb. 15, also allegedly from abusive treatment. A dozen toddlers from 32 children at the orphanage had been removed by the authorities to a safer place. The orphanage’s owner, Samuel Watulinggas, is in police custody but he insisted that there was no violence in the house. Komnas PA chairman Arist Merdeka Sirait questioned Banten Social Welfare Agency on the orphanage’s operational permit and Social Welfare Ministry director general for social rehabilitation Samsudi revealed that child abuse and human trafficking often took place at orphanages. “It may happen because many orphanages do not have permits [from the ministry],” he said. There are around 6,000 orphanages nationwide and some 800 of them are illegal. Samsudi acknowledged that monitoring by social welfare agencies in regencies or municipalities had been very weak. “Orphanages are always the last option for children. If they no longer have parents or families to take care of them or nobody wants to adopt them, then they will stay in orphanages,” he said, adding that ideally each orphanage should refer to the ministry’s regulation no. 30/2011 on the national standards on parenting for child welfare institutions. However, alleged torture against minors at home is more common. The latest case was when police general Brig. Gen. Mangisi Situmorang and his wife were accused of hiring underage maids and treating them inhumanely. Arist said Komnas PA had detected indications of human trafficking and domestic violence as according to the maids’ statements, they were hired by Mangisi’s wife, Mutiara, after she paid Rp 1 million (US$86.13) per person to a labor recruitment agency in Pulogadung, East Jakarta. Bogor Police have named Mutiara a suspect in the case. She has been implicated in human trafficking and abuse of the 16 housemaids, seven of them reportedly underage, at her home in Bogor, West Java. She will face multiple charges from the Human Trafficking Law, the Domestic Violence Protection Law or the Child Protection Law and she could face 15 years imprisonment. The increasing number of child abuse cases in the past four years should alert us to be more observant of our surroundings. Komnas PA recorded that abusive acts toward children kept rising each year from 2,335 reported cases in 2010 to 2,508 cases in 2011, 2,637 cases in 2012 and 3,023 cases last year.  The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) reports an increase of  “around 20 to 30 percent per year” in child abuse. Until last October, for the last three years the KPAI said an average of 45 children were sexually abused each month. The Child Protection Law guarantees children’s basic rights, including health, education, proper living and protection. However, many families think they have done a great deed by “unofficially employing” children to do household chores and babysitting in exchange for their monthly allowances and, sometimes, school tuition. Many may not realize that they have violated the Child Protection Law because it is a common practice to employ generations of domestic helpers in families, especially in Java. Many poor families sacrifice their children’s education because they need minors’ help to deal with daily needs. Therefore, cases of child workers in factories are often heard. According to data from the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2009, there were about 2.3 million child workers in Indonesia. This figure was much higher than the Central Statistics Agency’s (BPS) 1.76 million. However, according to Komnas PA, as of July 2013 there were around 4.7 million children forced into labor. It is easy to conclude that these children have lost their basic rights. Do not imagine them playing PlayStation 4 or Xbox or having the luxury of overseas holidays. They may not even have time for playing with kites. Many still have to do household chores after working. They may not be beaten up but forcing them to do labor at a very young age is just another form of abuse. They do not have scars on their skin but they do not have the luxury of having a dream. Children are supposed to enjoy their childhood, to have beautiful dreams of what their future will bring, to have hopes of a better life and a better world. Adults should not turn a blind eye and deaf ears to fulfill their needs. We should make sure that they have their basic rights. ●