The problematization of child sexual abuse in policy and law: The Indonesian example.
BACKGROUND
Indonesia has a strong national child protection policy. Yet significant limitations exist in laws, policy implementation, and coordination of services, especially regarding child sexual abuse. This is related to a lack of knowledge about child sexual abuse in Indonesia and associated taboos that constrain policy development.


OBJECTIVE
To understand how child sexual abuse problems have been represented in national child protection policy.


METHOD
'What's the problem represented to be' (Bacchi, 2009) is an analytic approach that uses discourse analysis. This method was employed to examine how child sexual abuse problems in Indonesia are constructed and represented in six government documents (two laws and four national policies).


RESULTS
Three overarching problem representations of child sexual abuse were identified: (1) children are a vulnerable, at risk, and disempowered group; (2) service access is limited and services are not coordinated; and (3) there is a lack of agreement and clarity across laws and policy in child protection. For example, inconsistencies of policy and laws regarding the minimum age for marriage can result in gender discrimination and limit a child's access to justice, protection, and services.


CONCLUSION
Policy discourses play a crucial role in the construction and representation of child sexual abuse problems in Indonesia. Current inconsistencies constrain the implementation of effective intervention and prevention programs. Further work on policy harmony is needed as well as improving community understanding of child sexual abuse.
['Wismayanti|Yanuar Farida|YF|', "O'Leary|Patrick|P|", 'Tilbury|Clare|C|', 'Tjoe|Yenny|Y|']
Problematization Child sexual abuse Indonesia Discourse Policy analysis