REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said penalty for perpetrators of child abuse must be made stringent by amending the current law to make it more effective in preventing and deterring possible future criminals. 

"The law must be strengthened, revised and improved so that when it is implemented it will act as a deterrent and become more effective as it carries a longer and more stringent sentence," he said at a press conference on Thursday.

President Yudhoyono made the statement after holding a limited cabinet meeting to discuss the issue, following a series of incidents of child violence in various regions in the country recently.

A shocking case of sexual assaults on pre-school children by outsourced workers at the Jakarta International School (JIS) had recently been reported. Another shocking case of sexual assaults was later reported to have been committed by an adult on around 100 children in Sukabumi, West Java. 

"The government had noted the public anger in the past two weeks as well as calls for prevention and eradication of sexual crimes on children," he said. "I can understand the public anger because sexual crimes on children are serious offenses and can cause trauma in the victims."

He said after the incident at the JIS, the government had already carried out its task by ordering the police to legally process the cases, including of the JIS.

The ministry of empowerment of women and child protection as well as the police were also undertaking law enforcement efforts, he added. He said next week the government would summon all stakeholders concerned with child protection, such as the National Commission on Child Protection, women's organizations, community of experts and educational organizations, business institutions and press community to discuss the national program.

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