Less Than 5% of Sexual Assault Cases End up in Court: Ministry

TheIndonesia.id - The latest data has revealed that less than five percent of sexual assault cases in Indonesia actually end up in court.

Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights Edward Omar Sharif said that based on data from concerning state agencies, less than 300 of the total reported cases of sexual assault end up in court to be processed.

“Based on data from Komnas HAM [National Commission on Human Rights] and KPAI [Children Protection Commission], there are about 6,000 sexual violence cases against women and children, but less than 300 cases end up in court – which means it’s less than five percent,” Sharif said on Monday, March 28, as reported by Antara.

He said the figure indicates a flaw in the currently applicable legal procedure in Indonesia.

“Those of us with legal background thinks there’s something wrong with our legal procedure,” the deputy minister said.

Therefore, the legal procedure must be regulated in details in accordance to the substance of the sexual violence bill’s (RUU TPKS) problem inventory list.

Sharif is also optimistic that when it begins to take effect, the bill will not overlap with other law and regulations.

“It will not overlap with other Laws because when discussing the problem inventory list, we compare items on the list with existing Laws, including Law on the Elimination of Domestic Violence, Law on Child Protection, Draft of the Criminal Code, and Law on Human Rights Courts,” he explained.