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Violence against women increasing: Commission
Twenty-five years after Indonesia adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPFA) agendas on women’s empowerment, sexual violence has remained rampant in the country, with data showing a steady increase in reported cases
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wenty-five years after Indonesia adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPFA) agendas on women’s empowerment, sexual violence has remained rampant in the country, with data showing a steady increase in reported cases.
The 2019 annual report of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) launched recently revealed that 406,178 cases of violence against women were reported throughout the year, up 14 percent from 348,466 cases reported in the previous year.
Among the reported cases in 2019, 71 percent was domestic violence with 9,637 cases, while another 28 percent was public harassment, such as rape and other forms of sexual abuse, and the remaining 1 percent came in other forms of violence, including those committed by state officials.
The report also showed 192 cases of marital rape in 2019, up from 175 cases in 2018.
Unlike in previous reports, the commission recorded cases of incest and cyberattacks against women this year. The 2019 report showed that 1,017 cases of incest were reported, 425 of which involved biological fathers.
Furthermore, it also recorded 97 cases of cyberviolence against women, including 41 cases of revenge porn typically committed by a former sexual partner. The remaining 56 cases involved drug trafficking and online prostitution.
Komnas Perempuan, however, noted that the 14 percent increase in violence against women did not merely indicate an increase in sexual violence cases in Indonesia. Instead, it showed people’s increasing awareness to speak out against such incidents.
The case of a 14-year-old girl in Bengkulu province who was gang-raped and killed by 14 men in 2016 sparked public demand for a bill on ending sexual violence (RUU PKS) to be passed immediately.
The House of Representatives had included the bill in its prioritized National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) for next year following fierce demand from Komnas Perempuan and a number of civil society organizations that have long fought for the bill.
Apart from the bill, Komnas Perempuan also demanded that the government pass a draft government regulation (RPP) to address the rampant sexual violence against female migrant workers.
As a country that ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1984, Indonesia and other 188 member states of the United Nations adopted the BPFA as an agenda for women’s empowerment.
The BPFA addresses 12 critical areas of concern requiring particular action toward the advancement of women: women and poverty, education and training of women, women and health, violence against women, women and armed conflict, women and the economy, women in power and decision-making, institutional mechanism for the advancement of women, human rights of women, women and the media, women and the environment and the girl child.
A report of BPFA’s implementation made by each member state will be reviewed in a five-year term by the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
However, the five-year term report of Indonesia for 2019, which is supposed to be prepared by the Women Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry, was never made and sent to the commission.
Komnas Perempuan commissioner Adrianna Venny said the report was supposed to indicate the government’s efforts in dealing with gender and women’s issues.
“It’s such a big question of why the government did not make any report in 2019. The government made one in 2014 and years before. The international community has asked us to send the report, but unfortunately, we did not send any,” she said.
Women Empowerment and Child Protection Minister I Gusti Ayu Bintang Darmawati said women’s rights were not fully comprehended because of the dichotomy between private and public matters, which placed women’s issues as private matters that should not be brought into a public discussion.
“The ministry has five priority issues to be implemented. They are women’s empowerment and entrepreneurship, a mother’s role and family for child’s education, violence against women and children, child laborers and child marriage.” (trn)
