These children would otherwise spend all day on the streets with little to do, nowhere to go and at risk of exploitation.
The building is a shelter run by a non-profit organisation. It is a small corner of a sprawling city where they can feel safe.
The rooms in the shelter are almost completely naked, with only a few beds and chairs. It is a school or a permanent position to live, however, it provides them with a position to go, where they can be together.
Life has been harmful to street children, however, the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted how vulnerable they are.
While young people in Depok can continue to reach their shelters, in many parts of the country, shelters have been closed due to considerations of COVID-19 and other young people have been forced to fend for themselves.
In March, many provinces in Indonesia imposed restrictions on COVID-19, adding closure and some public sites. Indonesia is the most severely affected country in Southeast Asia, with more than 93,000 cases of the disease and 4,576 deaths.
“Street youth are very vulnerable to sexual violence. That’s why we have to be patient, settle for them and them,” Sulaeman, a shelter volunteer, told Al Jazeera.
There is no concept of social estrangement. Children have more urgent considerations than the coVID-19 threat, such as food, water and a resting position.
Icha volunteered at the shelter. She knows how harmful street life can be to young people and how perpetrators of sexual abuse seek to capitalize on their poverty.
“Living on the streets is not nice, sleeping in front of shops is not nice. If suddenly, someone offered you access to an apartment’s facilities … who would refuse?” she said.
“If someone promises to help you, you have a better life helping with a model, no one will say no.”
The 20-year-old told Al Jazeera that many of her friends had been sexually abused after accepting food and adult accommodation while on the street.
“Here in Depok, it happened to many of them. They’re tired, they can’t live anything on the street.”
According to Arist Merdeka, head of the National Commission for the Protection of Children, there have been more than 800 reports of child abuse since March, and only about 60% of cases involve sexual abuse.
Many other cases go unreported, especially those involving young people on the street or where the culprit is a close relative of the victim.
“Before coronavirus, the number of cases of child abuse was already high. But the scenario is now getting worse… there is more chance of abuse,” Merdeka said.
“Children in Indonesia are vulnerable to violence, abuse and trafficking … child sex slavery is also a problem … even young children have victims.”
In recent weeks, several cases of child abuse across the country have led to calls to more vulnerable children.
Late last month, a French citizen was arrested for allegedly abusing 305 minors in Jakarta. Most of the sick were street children, whom he lured into his hotel room posing as a photographer. The defendant died of suicide in his criminal cell.
In the incident, in Central Kalimantan, police arrested one village leader and two village officials for the alleged rape of a 17-year-old girl.
In Depok, a church guard accused of assaulting more than 20 children.
In the same week, police arrested a 54-year-old man for the alleged rape of a teenage girl. She had already been raped through her uncle and cousin.
Indonesia is not the only country facing an increase in cases of sexual violence against children.
In March, when many countries began implementing COVID-19 restrictions, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) warned that many millions of young people would be threatened by their safety by adding sexual violence.
UNICEF noted that while restrictions such as school closures and movement constraints were necessary, they would also disrupt children’s routines and cut off access to support systems.
Despite this, in early July, Indonesia’s legislators dropped a sexual violence eradication bill from their policy agenda for the year.
While the bill is still in the early stages of discussion, gaps in existing legislation were expected to be eliminated.
Sexual abuse perpetrators are already charged under the Criminal Code (KUHP). However, in its current form, KUHP does not even refer to sexual abuse or sexual harassment, criminalizing “obscene acts”.
Advocates of victims of sexual abuse have long criticized Indonesia’s current sexual violence law as simplistic and does not recognize the multifaceted nature of abuse.
Activists say the existing law makes it difficult for victims to bring a case to court and that at least 90% of recorded incidents of sexual violence are not tried, according to the Indonesian Women’s Association for Justice Legal Aid Foundation.
The new bill would have allowed new forms of evidence such as electronic data, victim impact statements and psychological reports to be presented in court and help the abused fight their cases.
But Supratman Andi Agtas, the Head of House of Representatives Legislative Body, said legislators simply did not have time to consider the legislation given the need to deal with the pandemic. In total, 16 bills had to be delayed.
“It’s not that we don’t think this bill is important, but these are more technical considerations. We are finalizing an invoice on how to manage COVID-19. We don’t have time to finish the other bills,” he told Al Jazeera. .
“We’re taking it off the national precedent list for this year, but we’re committed to bringing it back in 2021 because we know it’s important.”
For many, prolonging the discussion of the bill, at a time when sexual abuse is at stake, is a disappointment.
“If they refuse to discuss the bill, it means they fail to understand the need for protection for women and children against sexual violence,” Merdeka said