Arya News - The East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) administration will step up monitoring and protection efforts at centralised, communal, and independent evacuation shelters. It will also enhance psychological support for evacuees.
JAKARTA – The East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) administration has pledged to strengthen security at evacuation shelters following reports that a teenager displaced by a recent earthquake was sexually assaulted by another survivor.
NTT Governor Melki Laka Lena said the provincial administration was coordinating with parties to strengthen protection for women and children at evacuation sites across the province.
“Evacuation shelters should be safe places for people affected by disasters. That is why we need to strengthen protection measures at every shelter,” he said on Tuesday, as quoted by Kompas.com.
“Women and children must receive proper assistance and support at evacuation centers to ensure they are adequately protected and remain safe throughout their time there,” he added.
Melki said the NTT administration will strengthen monitoring and protection efforts not only in centralized evacuation shelters but also communal shelters and independent evacuation sites.
“This must not happen again. The safety of evacuees must be our top priority,” he said. “Basic needs such as food, temporary shelter and health services must be provided alongside protection from all forms of violence.”
The government will also strengthen psychological support for evacuees, Melki said, noting that post-disaster conditions can place significant mental strain on people who have been displaced.
“This is something we need to pay attention to so that the situation does not lead to further problems,” he said.
Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Arifah Fauzi said the 15-year-old victim was receiving assistance from her ministry and other relevant authorities, including psychological support.
The government has also stepped up measures to reduce the risk of sexual violence at evacuation shelters, including by establishing designated tents for women and children.
“We have designated tents specifically for women and children. Some shelters are still accommodating mixed groups, but we are working to separate them as we continue to collect and verify data on evacuees,” Arifah said on Sept. 2 as quoted by state news agency Antara.
According to authorities, the alleged incident took place in Sikka regency on Aug. 17 and 18, just days after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck NTT on Aug. 15, displacing tens of thousands of people.
Sikka Police spokesperson Second Insp. Leonardus Tunga said the investigation found that the alleged assault occurred at two separate locations: behind a school building and at the home of the suspect’s older sibling, which had been left vacant after the occupants evacuated following the earthquake.
“We need to emphasize that although the victim and her family were staying at an evacuation shelter, the alleged rape did not take place inside an evacuation tent or at an evacuation site,” he said Tuesday.
Leonardus said the victim’s family reported the case to Sikka Police on Aug. 19. Police have questioned the alleged victim and witnesses and requested a visum et repertum, a medical and forensic examination to document evidence related to the alleged assault, he said.
The Aug. 15 earthquake killed 135 people and injured 1,763 others. The disaster destroyed nearly 99,000 homes across the province and displaced more than 192,000 people.
As of Monday, about 72,800 people remained in evacuation shelters across the province.
According to the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), women are particularly vulnerable to gender-based violence during disasters.
Women can face multiple and overlapping risks in disaster settings, including sexual harassment, sexual violence, unequal access to aid and domestic violence. These risks can be exacerbated by a lack of private sleeping spaces, inadequate sanitation facilities and disruptions to livelihoods, which can create conditions that perpetrators may exploit.
Following the devastating 2018 earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Central Sulawesi, which killed more than 2,000 people, women’s rights groups reported 42 cases of gender-based violence in evacuation shelters, including rape and seven cases of domestic violence. (nal)