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Ahmad Sofian: Protecting child victims of violence
AHMAD SOFIAN: (JP/Apriadi Gunawan) Ahmad Sofian's brow furrowed, an intense expression crossing his face, as he watched a television program about the marriage of an Islamic scholar from Semarang and a 12-year-old girl
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AHMAD SOFIAN: (JP/Apriadi Gunawan)
Ahmad Sofian's brow furrowed, an intense expression crossing his face, as he watched a television program about the marriage of an Islamic scholar from Semarang and a 12-year-old girl.
The piece only ran for two minutes, but that was all it took to infuriate Sofian and his friends watching the program together at the office of the Children's Protection and Studies Center (PKPA).
Sofian, the executive director of the PKPA, said many instances of underage marriage occur in Indonesia, but neither the media or the public ever expose them.
As the representative for Indonesia at the second World Congress for the Elimination of Children's Commercial Sexual Exploitation, held in Japan in 2001, Sofian has been heavily involved in this field for many years.
His research, conducted with support from the State Ministry for Women's Empowerment and released in Medan city at the end of 2007, found there were five girls under 14 currently married to men over the age 40. The girls were victims of child trafficking for sexual purposes.
Through his efforts exposing these crimes, Sofian rose to the position of National Coalition coordinator for the Elimination of Children's Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Indonesia.
Born on Sept. 29, 1971, Sofian has been an active child rights advocate in North Sumatra for 12 years. His efforts fighting for children's rights in the region, known as the land of Melayu Deli, have been recognized by the public and official bodies.
One of his most notable successes, which drew the attention of the wider Indonesian community and mass media, was the court case involving Muhammad Azwar, better known as Raju.
Raju, an eight-year-old, was arrested for assault two years ago and held in an adult jail.
Sofian remains concerned with legal procedures involving children.
"From our field research, we found that violence against children was being perpetrated by people in institutions who are involved with the law," said Sofian. This situation, he argued, occurred because there were collaborations between those involved with law and order institutions and criminals.
Sofian, who graduated from the law faculty at the North Sumatra University, said he often received threats from unknown people while working cases in child advocacy and violence against minors.
In one scenario, he was threatened with death if he didn't agree to stop investigating the case of Paris Pangaribuan, a child prisoner who died from neglect in the Anak Tanjung Gusta Medan (children's prison).
Paris, a 16-year-old street child arrested for theft, died at the prison in 1996.
"I have been threatened and told to stop handling child violence cases, but I keep going on. My principle is to defend children's rights because this is part of God's mandate," Sofian said.
Sofian became involved in advocacy activities and supporting children afflicted by violence when he was promoting the Indonesian Children's Advocacy Institution.
In October 1996, Sofian, together with a number of university student activists, established the PKPA.
Initially the institution office, which focused mainly on research, was based in the home of a law lecturer from the North Sumatra University.
In order to run the organization, Sofian set aside half of the annual salary he received as a lecturer working for private universities in Medan.
The PKPA has developed into one of the main NGOs focusing on children's rights in North Sumatra. It is listed as a member of ECPAT, the biggest International children's rights NGO network in over 78 countries.
The PKPA employs 127 people and since its establishment has paved the way for a number of other organizations, including the Children's Complaint Center, the Children's Creativity Studio, the Gender and Reproductive Health Information Center and the Women's and Children's Health Service.
In just over a decade, the PKPA has successfully handled dozens of abuse cases involving children and women across the country. In an infamous trial, the PKPA fought for a female migrant worker named Nurlela, from Langkat regency, who was eventually released from prison in Malaysia after being threatening with the death penalty.
"The PKPA's principle is to strive for success in all cases involving violence towards children and women. We are not allowed to wait because we all actually have a responsibility to protect the human rights of children and women," said Sofian.
"Protecting the rights of children and women needs to be a top priority and on an equal agenda. The government has to be more proactive in handling cases of violence toward children and women in this country," said Sofian.
He said he was gravely concerned about the fate of future Indonesian generations if the government failed to take action against repeating instances of these crimes.
