Peer-reviewed article
Handling Victims of Sexual Violence Against Children
Rezi Syukriani, Suryadi Suryadi, Rizki Afri Mulia, Syamsir Syamsir ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examines how a local government service in Indonesia's Agam Regency handles child victims of sexual violence. The research found that families are the first responders, and the service provides support through restitution, compensation, and rehabilitation. A major barrier is that victims and communities often lack understanding of how sexual abuse affects children's behaviour. The service addresses this gap through counselling and community education about sexual violence.
Key points
- Handling of child sexual violence victims occurs through three mechanisms: restitution, compensation, and rehabilitation
- Families are identified as the simplest and first step in handling cases
- Lack of understanding by victims and community members about children's behavioural responses to sexual violence is a key obstacle
- Socialisation and counselling on handling sexual violence are used to address identified barriers
- The study was conducted at the Population Control Service, Family Planning, Women's Empowerment, and Child Protection office in Agam Regency
Limitations
This qualitative descriptive study does not evaluate the effectiveness of the handling mechanisms or compare outcomes for victims. The research describes current practice and obstacles but does not provide data on whether restitution, compensation, and rehabilitation actually improve child well-being or recovery.
Abstract
This research aims to find out how victims of sexual violence against children are handled at the Population Control Service, Family Planning, Women's Empowerment, and Child Protection, Agam Regency, and to find out what obstacles are faced and the efforts made. This research uses a qualitative descriptive method with a purposive sampling technique. Collecting research data from literature studies and field studies (interviews and observations). The research results show that the simplest step in handling cases of sexual violence against children is the family. Apart from that, the handling of victims of sexual violence against children at the Population Control Service, Family Planning, Women's Empowerment, and Child Protection, Agam Regency, is carried out in three ways, namely restitution, compensation, and rehabilitation. The obstacle that occurs in handling victims of sexual violence against children at the Population Control Service, Family Planning, Women's Empowerment, and Child Protection, Agam Regency, is the lack of understanding of victims or the community in understanding the behavior of children who are victims of sexual violence. Efforts made to deal with obstacles that occur in handling victims of sexual violence against children include socializing and providing counseling on how to handle acts of sexual violence against children in the family and community.