TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
When speaking up backfires: Public space no safe space for women in Greater Jakarta
Recent cases in Greater Jakarta seem to show that standing up to perpetrators only brings more troubles for the victims.
Change Size
Illustration of harassment (Shutterstock/File)
F
or many women in Greater Jakarta, sexual harassment in public spaces is a daily issue. From those commuting by train, bike, bus, motorcycle, or walking, no one is safe from rampant sexual harassment in the capital city.
In many cases, the victims have also experienced victim blaming. Despite the global #MeToo movement encouraging victims of sexual harassment to speak up, the situation might differ here. Recent cases in Greater Jakarta seem to show that standing up to perpetrators has only brought more trouble for the victims.
A Twitter user recently shared her experience about confronting a group of men catcalling her and a friend.
“Last night, a group of men consisting of six to seven people catcalled me and my friend while we were walking to a coffee shop around 1.2 kilometers from my boarding house in South Jakarta. Did I feel uncomfortable? Yes, but I chose to ignore them,” she victim said via Twitter on Aug 24.
However, after they exited the coffee shop, the same group of men catcalled them again. Her friend grew angry and shouted at them as they walked off. However, her action apparently only escalated the problem as the perpetrators chased the two girls with motorcycles.
They girls got into a quarrel with the perpetrators and one of the girls got pushed into an open sewer. As the other girl tried to help her friend, another man reportedly pushed her and slapped her face.
“I punched him back but he choked me. He pulled my hair and my shirt, I pulled his shirt back. I fell down and sustained scratches to several parts of my body while my friend also sustained a scratch on her back,” she tweeted.
