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Roll out free exams to boost violence reporting, says NGO
All hospitals in the city should provide free medical exams for victims of domestic violence, says a women’s rights activist, to encourage more reporting of incidents
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A
ll hospitals in the city should provide free medical exams for victims of domestic violence, says a women’s rights activist, to encourage more reporting of incidents.
Rita Serena Kolibonso, head of Mitra Perempuan, a local women’s crisis center, said such a program would help the police significantly in following up on report filed by women experiencing domestic violence.
“In Indonesia, many women think twice about reporting domestic violence,” Rita told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
“Besides the physical threat they face from their perpetrator husband, most of them are also cowed by society’s cynical perception of divorcees.
“That’s why it’s very important to give the victims who already have a courage [to report the domestic violence to the police] full legal certainty and also moral support by immediately following up on their reports.”
Under prevailing laws, a woman claiming to have been physically abused must first report the case to the police.
The police will then give the victim a letter to request physical or medical examination at a hospital.
The hospital may only send the exam results to the police, who will then use it as evidence to follow up on the victim’s report.
A victim, however, must have the examination as soon as possible, because injuries more than three days old are not legally considered evidence.
Rita said this procedure had become another obstacle for women from low-income families.
“With no money to undergo an examination, it’s the same as saying they should forget about asking for help from the police,” she said.
Data from Mitra Perempuan shows that of the dozens of hos-pitals in Greater Jakarta, only 10 have since 2007 provided free medical exams for victims of domestic violence.
Among these are Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta, the National Police’s Dr. Sukanto Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta and Cengkareng General Hospital in West Jakarta.
Established in 1995, the Mitra Perempuan crisis center, headquartered in Tebet, South Jakarta, has branches in Bogor and Tangerang. Besides providing private counseling, it also runs a hotline at (021) 8379 0010 to accommodate reports of domestic violence.
The center is now supported by 29 counselors.
This year, as of Dec. 14, the center has handled 204 complaints of abuse from women and children in Jakarta, Tangerang, Bekasi, Depok and Bogor. More than 60 percent were related to physical abuse.
Rita said those coming forward hailed from a range of backgrounds, rebuffing the widely held perception that domestic violence only occurred in low-income families as a result of financial strain.
The number of complaints this year is a 26.8 percent decrease from the 279 cases in 2008.
Cengkareng General Hospital clinical customer care officer Iis Bilqis Robitoh said the hospital’s free medical exam service for victims of domestic violence had been widely used by many patients.
“As long as our doctors confirm finding indications of domestic violence, a female patient can ask for a free medical exam, even if they don’t have the official letter from the police,” she said.
Cikini Communion of Churches (PGI) Hospital spokeswoman Rosiana said although her hospital had no such service for domestic violence victims, it was possible for those in possession of insurance cards for the underprivileged, or Gakin, to request a fee waiver.
