he government aimed to set up a data center for cases of sexual violence by no later than 2017 to help prevent sexual abuse in Indonesia, a minister said on Thursday.
"The data center is part of our leading program for protection from violence against women and children," Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Yohana Yembise said after a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission VIII overseeing social and religious affairs at the House complex.
As a preliminary step, the ministry would prepare a census, planned for this year, she said without giving further details on the census.
Indonesia is lagging behind when it comes to case and victim data on sexual violence. The government does not keep a record of cases of sexual violence against women and children, which hampers prevention.
The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) recorded 321,752 cases of violence against women in 2015, up from 293,220 cases in the previous year.
During the hearing, lawmaker Rahayu Saraswati from the Gerindra Party questioned the validity of data provided by the government in regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) No. 1/2016 on sexual violence against children.
An integrated data center to record sexual violence data was of high importance as the regulation would not be fully effective if not supported with the right data, she added. (rin)
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