The Constitutional Responsibility of the State in Legal Protection for Women and Children: A Normative Juridical Study of Indonesia’s Constitutional Law Framework

Abstract

The protection of women and children constitutes a constitutional obligation of the state, explicitly guaranteed under Article 28B paragraph (2), Article 28D, and Article 28G of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. This constitutional guarantee is reinforced through a number of national legislative instruments, including Law Number 23 of 2004 on the Elimination of Domestic Violence (PKDRT) and Law Number 12 of 2022 on Sexual Violence Crimes (TPKS), which provide mechanisms for the protection and recovery of victims of sexual violence. Nevertheless, the implementation of these norms continues to face serious challenges. The 2024 Annual Report (CATAHU) of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) reveals persistently high rates of sexual violence despite the enactment of the TPKS Law, with Komnas Perempuan urging the government to promptly issue implementing regulations under the TPKS Law in order to strengthen the effectiveness of law enforcement. Meanwhile, cases of violence against children rose by 12% in 2024, with sexual violence recorded as the most prevalent type of case a primary factor driving the regulatory evaluation and reform efforts of 2025. This gap between normative construction and implementation reality reflects fundamental problems in the institutional architecture and state responsibility from the perspective of constitutional law. This research employs normative legal research methodology with a statute approach, a conceptual approach, and a comparative approach. Primary legal materials include the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, Law Number 35 of 2014 on Child Protection, Law Number 23 of 2004 on Domestic Violence Elimination, Law Number 12 of 2022 on Sexual Violence Crimes, as well as international legal instruments ratified by The Constitutional Responsibility … (Dini Amalia Fitri, Ridayani & Akhmad Mundakir) 79 LICS 2026 Topic: Strengthening Legal Frameworks for Combating Human Trafficking and Enhancing Protection of Women and Children Indonesia, such as CEDAW and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The ratification of CEDAW through Law Number 7 of 1984 and UNCRPD through Law Number 19 of 2011 form part of the legal corpus analyzed, given that such ratifications impose legal obligations on the state to harmonize national legislation. Secondary legal materials, consisting of scholarly literature, court decisions, and reports from state institutions, are processed qualitatively through descriptive-prescriptive analysis. The research yields two principal findings. First, Indonesia’s constitutional law framework normatively contains a comprehensive construction of state responsibility in the protection of women and children; however, there exists a disharmony between statutory-level regulations and implementing regulations, which weakens law enforcement in practice. Implementation of the TPKS Law in several regions reveals that the Women and Children Protection Technical Implementation Units (UPTD PPA) as mandated by law have been established in only a fraction of districts/cities, while others are still in the process of formation or have yet to be established at all. Second, three institutional dimensions require strengthening: (a) interagency coordination within an integrated protection system; (b) the availability of service infrastructure such as safe houses and integrated service centers; and (c) synergy among the National Police, the Prosecutor’s Office, and relevant ministries. The establishment of the Directorate for Women, Children, and Human Trafficking (PPA-PPO), which by early 2026 had been operational in 11 Regional Police headquarters and 22 District Police offices, reflects the state’s commitment not merely to prosecuting perpetrators, but also to comprehensively protecting and rehabilitating victims. This study recommends strengthening institutional coordination mechanisms grounded in the principle of state obligation under constitutional law, as well as accelerating the issuance of implementing regulations under the TPKS Law as a prerequisite for the effective constitutional protection of women and children in Indonesia.