Indonesian Catholic schools move to tackle sexual abuse
High-profile cases prompt educators, govt to team up to provide better protection for children from predators
Andy Yentriyani, chairwoman of the National Commission on Violence Against Women, and Franciscan Father Vinsensius Darmin Mbula sign an MoU on April 8 to tackle sexual abuse in schools. (Photo supplied)
A high-profile sexual abuse case in which altar boys in Depok on the outskirts of Jakarta were assaulted by a church worker was a wake-up call for Indonesia’s Catholic schools to look at ways to better protect students from such predators, according to educators.
The case the first involving sexual abuse within the Indonesian Catholic Church brought to a civil court saw the perpetrator, Syahril Marbun, jailed for 15 years for raping two altar boys.
Indonesian firm in hot water over child marriage ads
Wedding planner faces prosecution for encouraging girls as young as 12 to get hitched
Women Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Bintang Puspayoga. (Photo: Women Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry)
A wedding planner has drawn widespread condemnation in Indonesia for promoting child marriage in an advertisement posted on its website and social media earlier this week.
The advertisement from Aisha Weddings, which specializes in organizing Muslim marriages, encouraged Muslim women aged 12-21 to get married as a form of “obedience to God.”
According to the agency, a Muslim girl’s job “is to serve a husband’s needs,” so she “must rely on a man as early as possible for the sake of a settled and happy family.”