T

he number of cases of sexual abuse and violence against children in Bali has reached an alarming level, the child protection commission announced recently.

Luh Pupu Anggraeni, chairwoman of the Indonesian Commission for Child Protection' Bali chapter, said the number of reports of sexual abuse and violence against children had increased dramatically in the last few years.

She said there had been 214 cases, including sexual abuse, rape and physical abuse against and by children, reported to the Bali Police in 2009.

She was speaking during a meeting between NGOs in Bali and Terry M. Kinney, the resident legal adviser of the US Department of Justice's Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT).

"That number represents only the cases that were reported to the police," Anggraeni said.

"The real number is certainly much higher, reaching alarming levels."

She added that of the reported cases, 73 were in Denpasar, 47 in Buleleng and 29 in Karangasem.

"Violence against children takes place both at home and on the streets," Anggraeni said.

She cited several cases in which a child had been abused at home by older relatives or neighbors.

Within the family circle, she went on, children were often forced to work as the breadwinner and do various household chores.

On the streets, Anggraeni said, children were forced to become underage sex workers, street children, beggars and workers.

"We have not seen any instances of child abusers going to jail," she claimed.

"The local district courts aren't handling cases of child exploitation well at all."

The provincial administration last year issued a bylaw on human trafficking, which also covers "child trade and exploitation".

The trafficking of children and teenagers goes mostly underreported, the child protection commission says.

Over the last 10 years, the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute's Bali office has received all of one report of child trafficking.

In 2002, Ida Ayu Wedawati, a teenager at the time, reported that she and some other young girls went to Japan after an agent had promised to get them jobs as Balinese dancers in the country.

However, upon arriving in Japan, the girls were forced to work as nightclub attendants, Ida said.

The US Justice Department's Kinney called violence against children a global nightmare, pointing out it took place all over the world.

"We expect that the police, prosecutors and judges have a similar legal perception on the law on child protection," said Kinney, a former prosecutor from Chicago.

He also stressed the importance of shelters for victims of child abuse, saying these youngsters badly needed physical and emotional therapy to get them over their traumatic experiences.

They also need legal assistance to bring charges against the perpetrators, he added.

The child protection commission's Anggraeni pointed out the Bali administration had no clear system of rehabilitation for children who had been abused.

"The local administration hasn't established any shelters for the victims," she said.