A 51-year-old female resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said she often saw her front neighbor, a 9-year-old girl, crying on the balcony of her house, to soon be called inside by her stepfather.

This may have been a sign the neighbor failed to see. In November, the girl told her and three others that she had been raped by her stepfather. The South Jakarta Police officially declared the man a suspect on Monday. The suspect was charged under Article 76D in conjunction with Article 81 of Law No.35/2014 on child protection that carries a maximum 15 years’ imprisonment upon conviction.

The 34-year-old suspect stands accused of repeatedly raping his stepdaughter since June 2017 in their 1.5-by-2-meter rented room when his wife was not around. The girl reportedly said the man always threatened to kill her if she dared to tell her mother.

The case added to a long list of sexual violence committed by people against their own family members. The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) reported this year that it had received 1,071 reports of rape at the hands of family members throughout 2018. The commission said fathers and uncles made up the highest number of perpetrators.

The chief of the South Jakarta Police’s Women and Children’s Protection (PPA) Unit, Adj. Comr. Nunu Suparmi, said the PPA unit had referred the victim to the Jakarta Integrated Care Center for the Empowerment of Women and Children (P2TP2A) for psychological and legal assistance. “Both medical and psychological reports had been done and the victim immediately got medical treatment at the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital,” she said. 

Apparently, not many victims of sexual abuse receive such assistance. Many other victims reportedly had to pay by themselves for legal proceedings and rehabilitation because under the current law, victims of sexual violence are not entitled to any help from the government. The Jakarta Post recently reported the story of a mother who spent at least Rp 3 million (US$213) for her daughter’s treatment. The daughter was raped by her father.

The Manggarai child victim now lives with her mother in a relative’s house in another neighborhood unit. Nunu said they were offered accommodations in a safe house, but the victim’s family declined.

The Jakarta administration opened safe houses for children and women who fell victim to violence in May 2018. Whether victims are sent to safe houses depends on their needs. 

A lawyer from the Legal Aid Foundation of the Indonesian Women’s Association for Justice (LBH APIK), Uli Pangaribuan, said the victim and her family might have turned down the offer to move into a safe house because they did not fully understand what one is or, more importantly, their right to safety.

Uli explained that victims have the right to be informed of what their rights are. “Victims are often not aware of their rights. On the other hand, law enforcement officers’ understanding of victim’s rights is also lacking,” she said. 

“Another of the victim’s rights is the right of restitution. It’s good if the victim is now assisted by the P2TP2A, but we rarely hear of the P2TP2A’s proposed restitution [as reported] to the Witness and Victim Protection Institute,” said the LBH APIK activist.

As violence in all forms keep happening, many Indonesian women are fighting relentlessly to push the House of Representatives to pass a sexual violence bill that is designed to promote justice for victims of sexual violence and better address their rights.

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