Overview - Child Protection
With so many Indonesian children in vulnerable situations, child protection is a key challenge for UNICEF and its local partners. About 60 per cent of children under five years old do not have birth certificates; about half are not registered anywhere. The lack of birth registration heightens the risk in later life of exploitation, age and identity falsification. Three million older children work in potentially hazardous occupations. At least 30 per cent of all female sex workers in Indonesia are under eighteen years of age, with children as young as ten are forced into prostitution. An estimated 100,000 women and children are trafficked annually, mostly as commercial sex workers in Indonesia and abroad. Around 12 per cent of females are married at or before the age of 15. Some 4,000 to 5,000 children are in detention centres, correction facilities and prisons; 84 percent of those sentenced are detained with adult criminals. Other issue of concern is the special vulnerability of children and women in conflict- or disaster-affected communities, including more than 2,000 children left parentless and many more psychologically affected after the tsunami that struck Aceh and North Sumatra on December 26, 2004. There are about 7,000 institutions for children in Indonesia that care for over 127,000 children who are parentless, neglected, or whose parents cannot provide adequately for them. The prolonged institutionalisation of children can leave a negative impact on children's psychosocial development and place them at greater risk of violence and abuse, especially if the residential home for children are not safeguarded. Children in Indonesia - as elsewhere around the world - experience violence at home, on the streets, at school and among fellow children. But much of this violence is hidden, or may not be considered an act of violence at all if both child and abuser see nothing unusual or wrong in it. Violence against children is too often socially accepted and viewed as a form of discipline, and in many communities cultural and social norms are not sufficiently protective or respectful of children. In Indonesia, violence against children is underreported. This happens in part due to prevailing cultural circumstances – e.g. a traditional community’s refusal to acknowledge the existence of such incidents. Incidents are also underreported because poor law enforcement and widespread corruption within the legal system mean that reported cases are not adequately investigated and offenders often go unpunished. (Read about UNICEF's response for Child Protection)
Activities Real Lives story Press Information Children out of sight, out of mind, out of reach (PDF) Factsheet On Commercial Sexual Exploitation And Trafficking Of Children (PDF) |
