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View all search resultsWomen question legal protection as gender violence rages on
Despite having ‘progressive’ policies such as the 2022 Sexual Violence Eradication Law, gender-based violence cases are still rampant in the country, with many blaming the lack of adequate response from law enforcement institutions in giving justice to victims of such crimes.
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A placard against femicide, claiming 2023 statistics of some 180 reported cases across 38 provinces, is seen as activists take part in a street protest on Nov. 25, 2024, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women in Jakarta. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
When scrolling through social media, Fatma Bandar found at least one case of violence targeting women every week on her timeline.
On Wednesday, for example, the 23-year-old saw a post from a woman who anonymously shared on X her experience of being repeatedly raped by a coworker, and later verbally assaulted by a police officer when she mustered the courage to file a report.
The other day, she read news of a femicide of a female student at Sultan Syarif Kasim State Islamic University in Riau, who was struck by a machete by her male peer.
Reading the news left Fatma enraged, leaving her to blame women’s suffering on “patriarchy that haunts Indonesia’s social and justice system” and blinds authorities to women’s experiences.
“What frustrates me the most is when law enforcement officers fail to take the victim’s perspective, like I unfortunately often see in the news,” said Fatma on Wednesday. “How long will this continue?”
Indonesian women, like Fatma, lament the lack of legal protection against gender-based violence, with fingers pointing to authorities for indequately preventing and responding to such cases despite the presence of legal instruments to prosecute the crimes.
Such concerns were also circulating among women’s rights activists, including Ally Anzi of Jakarta Feminist, who joined the group after realizing that life is not the same for men and women: from the constant fear when walking through poorly lit streets to threats of sexual violence and femicide.
