Throughout 2021, police reports were filed on alleged sexual violence committed by religious boarding school teachers, an elementary school teacher, a mosque caretaker and Quran reading tutors in different cities.
n a bid to educate the public about the importance of sexual and reproductive health and the rights of adolescents and young adults, nongovernmental organization Rutgers WPF Indonesia has been holding media fellowships since July 2021. Ten national and local journalists have taken part in the program, including the author. The following article is the first of five produced under the initiative.
The year 2021, a dire time for women’s rights activists, closed on a grim note for more reasons than one.
Earlier that year, the House of Representatives Legislation Body (Baleg) had decided to postpone the deliberation of the much-awaited sexual violence eradication bill, as one of the nine House political factions had rejected the word “sexual” in the title.
The deliberation of the bill, which is now called the criminal bill against sexual violence, started last week during a House plenary season.
Another reason was the wave of reports on sexual violence involving minors brought to the public’s attention.
In December, a male teacher who worked at three Islamic boarding schools in West Java stood trial for allegedly raping at least 13 female students in their teens since 2016, some of which allegedly led to unwanted pregnancies. At least nine babies had been born out of the assaults, prosecutors contended. In the same month, a university student committed suicide at the grave of her late father in Mojokerto, East Java. She had reportedly been pregnant twice, and each time the pregnancy was allegedly forcibly terminated by her boyfriend, who was on the police force. The latest abortion was allegedly in August 2021.
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