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House pushes sexual violence bill as govt plans to issue Perppu
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Activists from the Women's Action Committee light candles during a protest entitled "#SOS (Save Our Sisters): Ring the Alarm! Indonesia is in a Sexual Violence State of Emergency!" in Jakarta on May 4. They demanded the government and police be firm in handling the case of a 14-year-old student from Bengkulu who was raped and murdered in early April. (Antara/Muhammad Adimaja)
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s the government plan to issue a regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on sexual violence, the House of Representatives’ legislation body (Baleg) will push for immediate deliberations over a sexual violence bill that has been included in this year’s National Legislation Program.
The body submitted the sexual violence bill and a limited bill to revise Law No. 5/2014 on Civil Servants (ASN) to the House on Wednesday.
"We have agreed to submit both bills. We have to wait for the opinions of the House’s factions during the debate over the legislation program revision in June,” said House’s legislation body chairman Supratman Andi Agtas in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Previously, the legislation body said that the sexual violence bill would be deliberated next year because the House had been busy with other bills.
Supratman said that a number of lawmakers had underlined the need to immediately deliberate the bill because of the rampant reports of sexual abuses.
Rieke Dyah Pitaloka of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) stressed that the law on sexual abuse was expected to counter sexual violence cases. She expressed the hope that the Law and Human Rights Ministry would become the leading partner of the House during the bill deliberation.
“The bill should be deliberated comprehensively because it touches on various things like human rights, education and culture,” Rieke said, adding that the product would be a lex specialis (special) law that would be used to fight the crime.
The law is expected to explicitly detail the obligation of all parties to hide the identities of the victims and not only those of the perpetrators.
In the wake of a rape that took the life of a 14-year-old student in Bengkulu, the rights activists have called on the government to immediately pass the sexual violence bill.
The sexual violence bill had actually been put on the long list of the House National Legislation Program to be finished between 2015 and 2019.
Rieke expressed the hope that the bill will be passed into law in the current sitting session that would last until July 28, or during the next sitting session this year.
The National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) recorded 321,752 cases of violence against women in 2015, up from the 293,220 cases in the previous year. The commission had drafted the sexual violence bill in 2104.
In the bill, Komnas Perempuan listed six forms of sexual violence against women: rape, sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, sexual control, sexual torture and sexually charged punishment. The bill stipulates a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment for sex-crime convicts. It also has several articles that provide better protection for rape victims. (bbn)
