“The main obstacle in investigating child sexual abuse cases comes when children can’t retell their story well. Some police officers also don’t have sufficient knowledge of child protection,” KPAI commissioner Erlinda said at a discussion forum on Friday.

Early this week, the government issued a Perppu on sexual violence against children. Among the new rules for punishing abusers are a minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, life sentences, death sentences and additional punishments like chemical castration and the use of electronic implants to track past abusers.

Erlinda said a lot of police offices relied on physical s only to prove incidents of sexual abuse although in many cases the abuse of children cannot be detected only through examining the victim's physical condition.

For example, a female victim's hymen may not be torn after she has been raped, and therefore, the police may not have physical evidence to prove the crime. However, the experience the victim has been through will have caused serious trauma, said Erlinda.

“Unfortunately, she cannot retell her story to the police because of the trauma. Therefore, the role of a psychiatrist is crucial in the investigation of child abuse. Psychiatrists will be able to detect the mental impact on a child,” she said.

With the help of psychiatrists, the police could complete further investigation and the case could be taken to the court, she added.

The KPAI proposed that the role of psychiatrists in investigating sexual abuse be implemented not only in city and regency police procedures but also by sub-precinct police.

Erlinda said her institution would propose to the National Police the inclusion of child protection training in the police training curriculum.

She said the Perppu could become a reference for revising the Criminal Law Procedures Code, particularly in terms of dealing with child victims of sexual abuse because under the Perppu, the police do not need to have two witnesses to take the case to prosecutor's office, a change Erlinda applauds.

Erlinda stressed that following the issuance of the Perppu all law enforcement institutions, including the prosecutor's office and courts, should also change their perspectives on dealing with cases of sexual abuse against children. (bbn)

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