In response to a perceived increase in cases of criminal sexual abuse targeted against children, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has issued a decree amending the 2002 law on children protection and providing tougher punishment for those convicted of sexual violence against minors. The law provides for the death penalty in most egregious cases, and two year’s chemical castration and electronic monitoring for convicted sexual predators. President Widodo said at a press conference “The law is designed to address the urgency caused by sexual crimes against children, which have increased significantly". The Presidential decree provides for chemical castration and electronic detection bracelets to monitor the behavior of sexual predators once they are released from prison. Included in the decree, punishment options for sexual predation on children now provide for the death penalty, life imprisonment and a minimum sentence of 10 years to a maximum of 20 years for those found guilty of sexually interfering with children. The President said: “Extraordinary crime requires extraordinary management. We hope for this regulation to impose deterrent effect to perpetrators and reducing sexual offenses against children". The decree from the President comes after a series of high profile sexual crimes against children and the arrest of known foreign pedophiles in Bali.
