W

hile schools should be a safe place for children, reports of sexual abuse still haunt parents who claim slow response from the authorities when a case emerges.

A 27-year-old housewife in Bogor, West Java, published her story on the internet, as the police seemed to be processing a report she filed in May at a snail’s pace. The report alleges that the woman’s four-and-a-half-year-old daughter was sexually abused at her kindergarten. The mother claims she found a blood stain on her daughter’s underwear multiple times. As the daughter was experiencing pain, her mother took her to the doctor, who said someone had attempted to insert something into the girl’s vagina.

Urging her child to speak the truth, the girl told her mother that a school guard had inserted his finger in her vagina, testimony that convinced the mother to report the incident to the Bogor Police.

A medical report was included in the report.

“She was in trauma and often cried at night. She was scared to go to school,” the mother told The Jakarta Post, recalling her daughter’s condition.

Claiming the school was not cooperative and continued to employ the school guard, the child was moved to another school.

The principal of the kindergarten said she did not have a reason to dismiss the school guard, however was cooperating with the police in their ongoing investigation.

Three months since the report was filed, the police say there are conflicting testimonies among witnesses in the case.

Bogor Mayor Bima Arya said the public should not conclude the alleged sexual assault happened, as until now the police had not found evidence to support the accusation. “Let’s just wait for the investigation to be completed,” he said.

Child sex abuse is frequently reported despite claims of slow response from the authorities.

The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) said this year alone, the commission had received 41 reports of child sex abuse as of April.

Reports of abuse reached their peak in 2014, with 656 cases, among which was a case implicating staff at the Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS).

In 2015 and 2016 there were 218 and 192 cases respectively, KPAI said.

The National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas PA) received 889 reports as of August pertaining to child abuse in Greater Jakarta. Forty eight percent of the cases were sex-abuse related.

Of that number, 18 cases reportedly took place at schools, including a recent case implicating an English teacher at a private school in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta. The teacher was arrested by the police for allegedly sending explicit text messages to his students.

KPAI commissioner Retno Listyarti said schools should optimize the monitoring of students and employees, for instance, through the installation of CCTV cameras.

“Teachers and parents should be concerned about behavioral changes in children,” she said.

Komnas PA chairman Arist Merdeka Sirait deplored the police’s slow response in relation to the case in Bogor.

“To provide a safe environment for children, each school should be more selective in recruiting teachers and employees and make sure none of them have committed criminal offenses,” he said.

School employees should undergo routine psychological assessment, he added.