Indonesians Assert #15yearsNOTenough for Child Predators · Global Voices
Juke Carolina

The message #15yearsNOTenough on the street #Tapeart #RHARHARHA #seniaksi #Jakarta 2014 pic.twitter.com/u4YPiglI7p
— RELAX MAN (@RHARHARHA) May 19, 2014
News about a rape case in a kindergarten school last February has shocked many Indonesian parents. But not long after the case was revealed, Jakarta International School (JIS) found itself in hot water again following the news of a suicide of one James Vahey, a former JIS teacher and a wanted pedophile by the FBI and Interpol.
According to the FBI file, Vahey has raped at least 90 teenage boys throughout his teaching career.
Last March, Tjandra Adi Gunawan, a dentist and business consultant from East Java was apprehended for collecting and distributing online child porn material. The National Police confiscated [id] more than 10,000 child porn pictures from Gunawan's possession. Gunawan posed as a female OB/GYN and lured his victims to interact with his bogus Facebook profile.
Reacting to the surge in child molestation cases, the Indonesian Police Chief stated [id] that pedophiles should receive harsher penalties or even capital punishment.
Citing data gathered by Interpol and the FBI, the Indonesian Police said [id] that Indonesia is experiencing an alarming number of molestation against minors. The number has allegedly surpassed that of Thailand and is one of the highest in the Southeast Asian region.
2007 Thailand&Cambodia menetapkan UU dgn hukuman seumur hidup/mati kpd pelaku pedofil.Mrk lihat di Indonesia hukumnya lemah.Mrk pun ke sini
— Erwin Arnada (@erwinarnada) April 23, 2014
Thailand&Cambodia uphold a law with life/capital punishment to pedophiles. They saw how weak the same law in Indonesia, and here they went.
In Indonesia, the maximum punishment for a child sex offender is 15 years [id]. However, nobody has received the maximum punishment in pedophilia-related cases.
@pasukanjarik (Jarik Army), a group of concerned parents, made an online petition on Change.org, calling the government to revise the law on child molestation and hand out harsher punishment to child sex offenders. In Javanese culture, Jarik is a Batik cloth used by parents to carry their newborns and toddlers.
On Twitter, the group is campaigning using the Twitter hashtag #15yearsNOTenough.
Glad we could be there with @pasukanjarik and participated! Yes! Remember! #15yearsNOTenough pic.twitter.com/oizFsB0hGP
— Caroline Hero (@Caroline_Hero) May 20, 2014
I'm 14y.o and this is my pleasure to be a part of #pasukanjarik. #15YEARSNOTENOUGH @pasukanjarik pic.twitter.com/ZjOCfJZBKN
— citski (@juanitacitra) May 19, 2014
Through the Twitter hashtag #hukumanpedofil (punishment for pedophiles), users discussed about the right punishment for sex predators:
Pelecehan seksual adalah mimpi buruk bagi korban nya.Maka jadikan suntik kebiri mimpi buruk juga bagi pelakunya. @SindoRCTI #hukumanpedofil
— Muhammad Tovik S (@TovikArsenal) May 7, 2014
(As) sexual harassment is the nightmare for victims, let neutering injection become the nightmare for the culprit.
Kalo di Amrik sih UU dipakenya perkorban, jd kalo korbannya 100 anak lebih, hukuman maks 15thn x 100, jadi penjara 1500 thn. #HukumanPedofil
— Rd. Pranama Mawada P (@pranamawada) May 6, 2014
In the US, the law is applied to the number of victims, if 100 children became preys, then the maximum punishment will be 15 years x 100, equals to 1500 years of prison.
Stencil artists at @komunalstensil appealed to both the government and the public:
Darurat Kekerasan Seksual. #KomunalStensil pic.twitter.com/VeeYpTtB1e
— komunal stensil (@komunalstensil) April 20, 2014
Their poster says: Sex Abuse Emergency! Ask the state if we should start arming our kids.
Blogger Swastika Nohara concluded in her blog how communication is an important part of parenting:
Pada akhirnya, komunikasi antara anak dengan orang tua memang jadi penting banget. Biasakan ngobrol santai dengan anak soal apa saja, bahkan hal-hal yang kelihatannya remeh bagi kita, bisa jadi penting bagi anak.
In the end, communication between children and parents becomes crucial. Getting used to have a laid back conversation with our kids on any topic, things that seem to be ordinary for us, might be very important to our kids.
*Featured image is from @NanAndriana.