Peer-reviewed article
Mitigation Sexual Violence Against Children in Aceh
Yuni Roslaili, Marina Ulfah, Suparwany Suparwany, Muhammad Muzaky, Siti Aisyah ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how Aceh's government responds to child sexual abuse cases through the local protection office (UPTD PPA), guided by regional law Qanun No. 9/2019. Using interviews with victim advocates, the research found that the law has not been implemented effectively because the government lacks technical guidelines and agencies work in isolation rather than together. The study also found that families often do not report abuse because they see it as shameful, and trauma makes it difficult for child victims to share their experiences.
Key points
- Sexual abuse cases in Aceh have been increasing annually despite several regulations on the issue
- Implementation of Qanun No. 9/2019 has been inefficient due to lack of technical guidelines for application
- Relevant agencies do not collaborate effectively and continue working in a sectoral manner
- Underreporting of sexual abuse cases occurs because families view it as a source of shame
- Child victims experience mental decline that makes it difficult to obtain information about the abuse
Limitations
This study relies on interviews with advocates rather than direct measurement of outcomes or comparison of different implementation approaches, so it cannot determine which specific barriers are most significant or what interventions would be most effective. The study does not provide data on the prevalence of child sexual abuse or the scale of implementation failures across Aceh.
Abstract
Although Aceh had issued a number of regulations concerning sexual violence against children, the trend of sexual abuse in Aceh has tended to increase annually. This article investigated the Aceh government's response to child sexual abuse cases through the Banda Aceh Municipal UPTD PPA as instructed by Qanun No. 9/2019. This article relied on qualitative research, using case studies and in-depth interviews about the Aceh sexual violence victims' treatment from their advocates at the UPTD PPA office in Banda Aceh. The interviews were intended to analyse the implementation of Qanun No. 9/2019 on the Implementation of Response to Violence against Women and Children in Aceh. This study concluded that the implementation of Aceh Qanun number 9 of 2019 concerning the organizing and addressing violence against children had not been well carried out and had not yet been efficient. It was evidence that although Aceh had passed a number of regulations on the prevention of sexual violence against children, including Qanun Aceh number 9 of 2019, the local government had not yet issued technical guidelines for implementation; therefore, relevant agencies currently not working collaboratively in dealing with children's sexual abuse cases in Aceh and remained working in a sectoral manner. In addition, the community and parents were less motivated to report cases of sexual abuse that occurred in their environment because it was seen as a disgrace. In addition, child victims often experience mental decline, thereby making it difficult to obtain information about what had happened to them.