T

he UN Population Fund’s (UNFPA) “Dimulai dari Saya!” (starts with me) online competition to campaign for the eradication of violence against women attracted 800 participants.

The competition is timed to coincide with the “16 days of activism” starting from Nov. 25 (the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women) to Dec. 10 (Human Rights Day). “It is aimed at encouraging the participation of men,” UNFPA national program officer for media and communications, Nugroho Nurdikiawan Sunjoyo, said Friday.

Participants join the Facebook group “Dimulai dari Saya” or follow @dimulaidarisaya on Twitter, where they are required to post updates, short essays, pictures, videos, designs or sketches related to the elimination of violence against women for 16 days in a row.

The participants are also required to use profile pictures provided by the organizers. “The most important thing is there must be new updates every day for 16 days,” Nugroho told The Jakarta Post.

“The competition is focused on men because we want men to also give their voice in supporting the movement for the elimination of violence against women,” he said, adding that the winner would receive an iPod Touch.

Nugroho said 800 people had already joined the Facebook page.

A 2007 study by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) showed that 16.3 percent of the more than 12,000 male respondents said they had the right to beat their wives for a variety of reasons, including refusing to have sex, having an argument, poor cooking and going out without the husband’s consent.

The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) said there were a reported 143,586 cases of violence against in 2009, more than double the 54,425 cases reported in 2008.

However the drastic increase has been attributed not to a rise in the actual number of cases, but better data collection.

Most abused women remain silent about domestic violence because they are economically dependent on their husbands, as is the case with fulltime homemaker Mimin Darmini.

Mimin said that in almost 20 years of being married, her husband frequently beat her. “I don’t know why, when he is in a bad mood he releases all his stress and anger by beating me.”

However she refuses to report her husband for abuse, saying she was afraid for her two sons. “How would I pay for their school fee, their daily meals if he went to prison?”

Komnas Perempuan chairwoman Yuniyanti Chuzaifah said the best the commission could do was to create a better environment and system for women to report violence that they experienced.