The PPA has written to the President of Parliament requesting an urgent public meeting with the Ministry of Justice to examine how Aruba’s child-protection system functions and what changes are needed, parliamentarian Eduard Pieters announced, 24ora reported on November 13.
Pieters said the PPA had met with organisations working in child protection and received information about deficiencies in the application of protocols. He called for an evaluation of institutional coordination, access to forensic doctors and the investigation of sexual-abuse cases. “It is not enough to have protocols,” Pieters said, as reported by 24ora. “They must work, when a child needs protection.”
Life imprisonment to be studied
PPA leader Otmar Oduber backed the party’s position of studying the introduction of life imprisonment for serious sexual abuse of minors. He questioned whether relatively short sentences send a strong enough message, mentioning a case which, he said, resulted in a punishment of approximately two years. Oduber emphasised that the proposal would have to be translated into a legislative initiative and legal evaluation.
Protection does not end with a conviction
Pieters underlined that child abuse also includes physical, emotional and psychological abuse, neglect and exposure to domestic violence. He also called for more attention to the treatment and recovery of victims and their families, in the form of restorative justice.
Oduber acknowledged that some situations can involve mental-health conditions, which require professional evaluation and an adequate response from the justice system. “The system must protect the victim, not let the trauma deepen,” he said.
According to 24ora, the PPA is seeking a debate that can result in better investigation, consistent application of protocols, support for victims and a review of criminal legislation — a system, the party argues, that detects, protects and acts before another child becomes a victim, rather than only punishing an offender after abuse has taken place.
Source: 24ora (November 13, 2026)
