Feminists voice concern over abusive husbands<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A group of feminists renewed their concern on
\nThursday that women were vulnerable to violence perpetrated by
\ntheir husbands or partners while at home.<\/p>\n
In its year-end report, the Mitra Perempuan women's crisis
\ncenter revealed 113 cases of abuse against women in the capital,
\n60 percent of which took place inside the home.<\/p>\n
\"Domestic battery is classified as verbal, physical,
\npsychological and sexual abuse, although a combination of two or
\nthree types of assault was found in some cases,\" the center's
\nexecutive director Rita Serena Kalibonso said.<\/p>\n
She added that the center's report showed 23 cases of combined
\nabuse.<\/p>\n
The crisis said it found the prolonged economic crisis had
\ncontributed to the rise in domestic violence. \"But the crisis was
\nnot the source of the domestic battery, because the violence
\nalready existed,\" Rita said.<\/p>\n
Rita said domestic violence was not linked to education, as it
\nwas revealed in the report that more or less half of the victims
\nand perpetrators were high school graduates.<\/p>\n
\"Higher education does not mean better gender awareness
\nbecause women and men from any educational background can become
\nthe victims and perpetrators of the violence respectively,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The center's other activist, Purnianti, a criminologist,
\nblamed the domestic violence on the paternalistic culture widely
\nadopted in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"Sadly, women preserve the condition by teaching their
\ndaughters to remain inferior to men,\" Purnianti said.<\/p>\n
She said that from an early age, women in the country had been
\ninculcated to obey orders from their husbands.<\/p>\n
\"This has caused men to think they can do anything toward
\nwomen. In a situation such as this, enhancing law enforcement
\ncannot solely be relied on to solve gender issues,\" Purnianti
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
She suggested that ulemas and religious leaders take part in
\ncurbing domestic battery by not exploiting certain religious
\nteachings to undermine women's rights.<\/p>\n
Rita said she was delighted to find that 23 percent of the
\nwomen surveyed dared report the violence they suffered to the
\npolice and 44 percent of them disclosed abuse against them to
\ntheir relatives.<\/p>\n
She said the introduction of the new special police unit in
\ncharge of domestic battery had encouraged gender awareness among
\nthe public.<\/p>\n
Separately, rights activist Albert Hasibuan said domestic
\nviolence reflected conflicts in society.<\/p>\n
\"The home is the smallest societal group and if violence
\noccurs in it, it will surely effect a larger group,\" Albert said.<\/p>\n
Albert, who is a member of the National Commission on Human
\nRights, said the center's concern should be taken into account.<\/p>\n
\"Violence against anyone is a human rights violation,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
To curb domestic violence, Albert stressed the importance of
\nhuman rights education. (04)<\/p>",
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