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Envoy calls for elimination of gender-based violence
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Equal rights: US Ambassador to Indonesia Joseph Donovan (right, wearing brown batik shirt) attends the International Women's Day celebration at Hamadi Beach in Jayapura, Papua, on Tuesday. (JP/Nethy Dharma Somba)
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ll people must be free from violence because any violence, including gender-based violence, can weaken security, undermine dignity, slow down economic development and hamper people’s participation in societal life, an envoy has said.
“To achieve their full potential, all people must be free from violence. That’s why through the USAID Bersama program, we partner with the Indonesian government and local NGOs to support strategies developed to reduce gender-based violence,” said US Ambassador to Indonesia Joseph R Donovan during the celebration of the International Women’s Day in Jayapura, Papua, on Tuesday.
The US envoy said gender-based violence was a serious problem in Papua and West Papua, in which its incident rate in both areas was far higher than the global average, reaching 33 percent.
“Almost 90 percent of female respondents from Papua and West Papua in the 2016 UNDP Gender Based Violence survey said they suffered physical violence by non-partners. When male respondents in the same survey were asked on their motives to commit violence, 70 percent of them said sexual rights was the main factor,” said Donovan.
He further said the survey also revealed 52 percent of female teenagers had suffered at least one form of physical or sexual violence before their 20th birthday. One-third of women and girls with injuries did not get the medical treatment they needed, it further said.
Donovan said the US had allocated US$7.3 million through the USAID Bersama program to prevent and tackle gender-based violence.
LBH APIK Papua director Nur Aida Duwila said the women’s rights advocacy group had built justice rapporteur schools in Papua to increase awareness to eliminate gender-based violence. (ebf)
