The ASEAN Conference, held in Denpasar, Bali, from the 7th until the 8th of August, focused on various prevention efforts against the misuse of financial services concerning the sexual exploitation of children.
Hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the conference was organised by ECPAT Indonesia (ECPAT stands for “End Child Prostitution and Trafficking”) in collaboration with the Association of Criminal Law and Criminology Lecturers (Asosiasi Pengajar Hukum Pidana dan Kriminologi or ASPERHUPIKI).
In addition, the ASEAN conference was supported by the Indonesian Ministry of Women and Children Protection, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Pusat Pelaporan dan Analisis Transaksi Keuangan or PPATK), the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (Komisi Perlindungan Anak Indonesia or KPAI), and several organisations in the ASEAN region.
The Head of the PPATK Public Relations Bureau, Natsir Kongah, said that, based on data collected in the year 2024, there have been approximately 303 cases of children being victims of economic and sexual exploitation. On top of that, the bureau discovered that 128 children have been victims of trafficking while 481 children have been victims of pornography in Indonesia. On the other hand, the value of money turnover from child prostitution, throughout the past ten years, has reached at least Rp127 billion.
“We all hope that efforts to combat sexual crimes involving children will be a shared commitment of all parties, including the active involvement of all components of society,” Kongah told the press on Wednesday, the 7th of August.
The Deputy for Special Protection of Children at the Indonesian Ministry of Women and Children Protection, Nahar, added that the vulnerability of children to crime is also inseparable from recent technological advancement, such as the digitalisation of financial transactions.
“The prevention of this crime must be optimal and its handling must be maximised because its nature is cross-country. Therefore, it is not only the responsibility of the inter-ministerial,” Nahar remarked.
The 8th of August also marked the 57th birthday of ASEAN. The association was established on the 8th of August, 1967, in Bangkok, Thailand. The early formation was marked by the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (also known as the Bangkok Declaration) by five Ministers of Foreign Affairs from five different nations: Adam Malik (Indonesia), Narciso R. Ramos (the Philippines), Tun Abdul Razak (Malaysia), S. Rajaratnam (Singapore), and Thanat Khoman (Thailand). As of the year 2024, ten countries constitute official members of ASEAN.