Visiting Rape Victims in Jepara, The MoSA Ensures Trauma Recovery

JEPARA (May 15, 2023) - The Indonesian Minister of Social Affairs Tri Rismaharini visited a child victim of rape. The Ministry of Social Affairs' visit was to provide motivation and Social Rehabilitation Assistance (ATENSI) assistance to the victim who is still a minor.

Starting from conducting media scanning, the Minister of Social Affairs managed to find out about the case of rape of a minor, and made her immediately visit the Jepara Police, Monday (5/15/2023).

"I found out about this news from media scanning, which we do every day. So, we did that and found out various things, starting from sick children, some collapsed houses, and this (case) is one of the ones we found from media scanning," said the Minister of Social Affairs who is familiarly called Risma at the Jepara Police Headquarters.

According to Risma, in handling victims of rape cases, especially in this case committed by the same sex, the Ministry of Social Affairs must act immediately, so that it does not have a major impact on the environment around the victim, or the environment of the perpetrator.

"I see, this must be saved immediately, because I have experience as a Mayor, I know what the impact of a case like this will be like. And this is true (happening). Alhamdulillah (gratutude to the God), I have been able to meet the perpetrator, and I have been able to meet the victim, which finally we have more complete information that we get, which will later be continued by the Police Chief, the District Attorney and the PPA Unit," said the former Mayor of Surabaya for two terms.

The Minister of Social Affairs emphasized that handling cases of rape like this needs to be carried out systematically and continuously. This is to ensure that trauma and behavioral storage do not continue. "This must be intense, because if not it will be dangerous for other children," he added.

Not only that, the Ministry of Social Affairs will also provide assistance to the victim, so that the mental trauma experienced by the victim can be cured immediately, by appointing psychologists and psychiatrists in Jepara.

"Alhamdulillah in Jepara there is a psychiatrist, because it is not enough to just have a psychologist, later both will be accompanied to restore the child's mental state, because friends made news that the perpetrator was also a victim, so actually (the perpetrator) also has to be cured," said Risma.

In this case, the Ministry of Social Affairs distributed Social Rehabilitation Assistance (ATENSI) assistance of Rp10,024,000 consisting of assistance to meet basic needs and nutrition as well as school supplies.

The Ministry of Social Affairs also conducted a mapping with the Police regarding this case, so that both parties could immediately resolve the case and provide residents with input, with this case.

By mapping this case, Social Minister Risma has also communicated with related parties, in order to reduce cases of violence against minors.

"Indeed, this must be handled together, I have conveyed, yesterday I met with the Minister of Education and Culture, Mr. Nadiem Makarim, special treatment for this matter, how can we all ensure that children are safe, 8 hours at school, 16 hours at home. These children must be safe for 24 hours," he said.

"Now many parents work, meaning 16 hours at home, how can parents also secure them. I will also talk to the Regional Secretary, how to keep children busy, so that they have activities so that they don't have all sorts of thoughts," added Social Minister Risma.

To note, this teenage boy (13) lives with his grandfather, his mother died in 2015, and his father remarried.

The victim has been attracted to the same sex since he was in 2nd grade of junior high school due to exposure to pornographic videos, so the Ministry of Social Affairs will provide treatment for the victim.

During this visit, Social Minister Risma was accompanied by the Director of Child Social Rehabilitation Kanya Eka Santi, Jepara Police Chief Wahyu Nugroho, Jepara Regional Secretary Edi Sujatmiko, Jepara District Attorney M. Ichwan, Jepara Social Service Head Edi Marwoto, PPA Unit Head Cahyo Fajarisma and representatives from the Women and Children Empowerment and Protection Service, Population Control and Family Planning (DP3PPKB).