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Victims no more
Nadiem has set a gold standard of legislation that can better protect vulnerable citizens, particularly women and children, from sexual violence.
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Silent victims: An activist arranges pairs of women’s shoes on Wednesday at the House of Representatives complex in Central Jakarta. The Shoes in Silence public campaign, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, was held to urge lawmakers and the government to pass the sexual violence eradication bill. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
here is no need for more evidence showing that Indonesia desperately requires a tough and progressive law to eradicate the sexual violence that remains rampant in the country.
The latest case only proves this, not only because it allegedly involves a law enforcer, but also because prevailing laws do not necessarily ensure that justice is served in the event of a sex crime.
Few days ago, a young woman in Mojokerto, East Java, reportedly committed suicide after an accusation emerged online that her police-officer boyfriend had raped her and forced her to have an abortion. The East Java Police are investigating the case.
From the recent report, the police claim the woman had had two abortions, one in March 2020 and one in August of this year.
There is no mention about the forced abortion, but the boyfriend is said to have been charged with being “involved in an abortion” under Article 348 of the Criminal Code. If found guilty he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
There is virtually no chance of an investigation into the alleged rape as the victim and key witness is already dead and this is where the problem lies.
House of Representatives lawmakers are drafting a long-awaited sexual violence eradication bill, and are expected to pass it into law after deliberation with the government – although it may come in a watered-down version.
The latest draft bill acknowledges four forms of sexual violence: Sexual harassment, the forced use of contraceptive devices, forced sexual penetration and sexual exploitation.
This is a stark departure from the initial draft, which enumerated 15 forms of sexual violence, including forced marriage, forced abortion and forced prostitution – which really happen and perhaps are institutionalized.
The future law may not acknowledge “sexual consent”, which in the eyes of Muslim conservative groups and individuals constitutes a permissive gesture toward “free sex” and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) activity.
In an apparent bid to fill the void, Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim has issued a regulation to combat sexual violence on campus. The regulation, signed on Aug. 31 but not published until October, was issued to address sexual violence in the country’s higher education institutions.
Its progressive nature is evident in its wider definition of sexual violence that includes verbal, physical and nonphysical sexual assault, as well as assault through information and communication technology. It also introduces an array of punishments for perpetrators of sexual violence in universities, including dismissal or expulsion of perpetrators.
Under the regulation, punishable actions include sexually charged jokes, catcalls, wolf whistles and leering, all of which are frequently overlooked in the spectrum of sexual misconduct or normalized as jokes or compliments.
Controversial as it may be, Nadiem has set a gold standard of legislation that can better protect vulnerable citizens, particularly women and children, from sexual violence.
Sexual violence is a crime, if not a gross offense considering the long-standing impact a victim may suffer.
The House’s initiative will ensure that at least we will have a law that, hopefully, better protects victims. Sexual violence must end.
