Medico-Legal Protection of Women and Children Against Human Organ Trafficking in Indonesia

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the legal protection of women and children against human organ trafficking in Indonesia and to formulate a strengthened, victim-centred approach that integrates medico-legal practice and the maqāṣid al-sharīʿah (objectives of Islamic law) framework. A normative legal method was employed, combining statutory, conceptual, and comparative approaches based on secondary legal materials, namely primary legal sources and peer-reviewed journals. The findings show that Indonesia regulates organ trafficking through several overlapping instruments— the Anti-Trafficking Law (Law No. 21 of 2007), the Health Law (Law No. 17 of 2023), and the new Criminal Code (Law No. 1 of 2023)-yet none establishes organ trafficking as a distinct offence, and victim restitution as well as the medico-legal contribution remain underutilised. Women and children, who are structurally the most vulnerable, are inadequately protected because forensic evidence such as visum et repertum is not optimally integrated into prosecution, and protection is still offender-centred rather than victim-centred. The study concludes that harmonising criminal, health, and procedural law, strengthening the role of forensic medicine, and embedding the value of ḥifẓ al-nafs (protection of life) can produce a more humane and effective protective framework.