October 3, 2025 | 09:40 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - In Indonesia, sexual exploitation of children has become alarmingly widespread. The 2024 report by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) recorded 1,450,403 reported cases of child exploitation in Indonesia. The Financial Transactions and Analysis Center (PPATK) found 24,000 children between the ages of 10 and 18 trapped in child sexual exploitation practices with transactions amounting to Rp127 billion.
The head of PPATK, Ivan Yustiavandana, emphasized the importance of tracing the criminal flow of funds. "That's why 'follow the money' is the key to breaking this criminal chain," said Ivan in a written statement on Thursday, October 2, 2025.
According to Ivan, this crime not only causes profound trauma to children but also is transnational, organized, and financially motivated.
Deputy Minister of Communication and Digital, Nezar Patria, underscored the threats in cyberspace. As of July 2024, Nezar explained that over 3,500 images of child sexual violence are spread in the dark web forums through fully-synthetic pornography generation services and nudifying services.
"Digital literacy becomes our joint task, while also building commitment because this crime has a very damaging impact on the next generation," said Nezar Patria.
PPATK is promoting the "follow the money" paradigm through the dissemination of the study on Multistakeholder Dialogue on Follow the Money: Unmasking Child Sexual Exploitation through Financial Transactions in Jakarta on October 2, 2025. This event brought together financial service providers, law enforcement, regulators, ministries, international organizations, academics, and anti-child exploitation NGOs.
Diana Soraya Noor, PPATK's Director of Strategy and International Cooperation, presented in the study the indicators of suspicious transactions that can be a tool for law enforcement to detect exploitation practices. The study involved contributions from Southeast Asian countries, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the Pacific region.
All stakeholders agreed to block the movements of criminals through financial channels. This approach is considered crucial for the prevention, detection, and prosecution of child sexual exploitation cases.
Disclaimer: To report any doubts or concerns related to child safeguarding, child sexual abuse, and/or violence against children, please contact the nearest authorities and/or relevant organizations. Child Helpline International at https://childhelplineinternational.org/helplines/ provides an extensive list of global helplines for accessible assistance and counseling services for children and young people. To report wrongdoings against children, including online child sexual abuse material and imagery, the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children at https://www.icmec.org/hotlines-and-helplines/ provides a list of global hotlines.
If you’re in Indonesia, you can contact the Ministry of Social Affairs’ TePSA hotline at 1500771, or the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection’s SAPA Service 129 at 08111 129 129. For immediate dangers, call the police at Call Center 110.
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