Legal Protection Efforts for Child Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation from The Perspective of National and Islamic Criminal Law: A Comparative Legal Study

This study aims to investigate Legal Protection Efforts for Child Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation from the Perspective of National and Islamic Criminal Law in Indonesia. This study used a qualitative, normative, and empirical legal study. Data were gathered through legal document studies and empirical studies. Legal document studies were conducted through analysing the Indonesian positive law documents and the Islamic law documents. Meanwhile, empirical legal studies were conducted through in-depth interviews with Indonesian law experts and Muslim scholars in Islamic law. This study found that the Indonesian criminal justice system adopts a hybrid system that combines elements of retribution, prevention, and rehabilitation, and is evolving toward a more restorative approach oriented toward victim protection. In the context of protecting children from commercial sexual exploitation, this system emphasizes that sentencing must deter perpetrators while ensuring the recovery and safety of children as highly vulnerable victims. The Islamic criminal justice system adopts a comprehensive and balanced approach, combining elements of prevention, just retribution, and the restoration of social order, including hudud (punishment), qisas/diyat (punishment), and ta'zīr (punishment based on the circumstances). In the context of protecting children from commercial sexual exploitation crimes, these acts are categorized as acts that damage honor, injure dignity, and threaten the safety of children, which are generally placed in the realm of ta'zīr.