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ctivists claim that regulations giving women and children more protection had led many victims of rape and abuse to come forward, which could lead to a higher number of suspects being prosecuted in such cases.

Last week, a female passenger, R.S., who was gang raped in a public minivan, spotted one of her rapist two weeks after the incident and helped the police arrest him.

Retired female police officer Irawati Harsono said that many victims were encouraged to file a police report because the country now had solid laws to deal with violence against women and children.

“With advocacy from some non-governmental organizations and the existence of a special unit for women’s and children’s protection in every police station, many victims now have the courage to file a report because we have the laws, which differentiate certain types of violence from other crimes. We don’t rely on the Criminal Code anymore,” Irawati told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

Irawati said that at the special unit called UPPA, women and children received special treatment, which was more convenient.

“The UPPA’s front offices are designed to be victim-friendly so that they don’t feel intimidated. Every UPPA has a sofa at the front and its own investigation room, and a room with a bed for victims who need to rest during investigation,” she said.

The UPPA was established in the late 1990s, soon after the 1998 riots in Jakarta that led to the downfall of president Soeharto. A number of Chinese-Indonesian women were raped during the riots.

“Prior to the formation of the UPPA, women’s rights groups heavily criticized the way the police handled rape cases, which was considered insensitive,” she said.

Irawati, along with female colleagues, took part in an initiative to push the National Police to provide a special room for women and children, called Ruang Pelayanan Khusus (RPK) or special treatment room.

Later, Irawati joined a group called Derap Warap Sari, an NGO set up to help train policewomen how to properly handle cases involving violence against women and children.

“In 2007, the RPK officially became a unit within the police structure,” she said.

Andy Yentriyani, a commissioner for the National Commission on Violence Against Women, lauded the unit’s work, saying that although the unit lacked the necessary support, it had made efforts to improve its service.

“Many policewomen have to use their own money when handling cases,” Andy said.

Irawati also said that many unit members sometimes had to provide shelter to victims or pay for a victim’s medical treatment, “That’s why there has to be a regulation that mandates cooperation between the National Police, the Social Affairs Ministry and relevant parties,” she said.

Andy, however, suggested that to provide better service to female victims, the National Police should first include methods of dealing with violence against women in the Police Academy’s curriculum.

“All police officers, regardless of gender, need to be sensitive about gender issues. And police personnel who fail to follow proper procedure must be penalized,” Andy said. (swd)