Govt 'not doing enough' for women<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Twenty-five years after Indonesia ratified a UN convention on
\nthe rights of women, experts are criticizing the government for
\nfailing to protect women from abuse.<\/p>\n
Women activists and legal experts urged on Saturday the
\ngovernment to eliminate existing rulings they said discriminated
\nagainst women.<\/p>\n
Director of Law Coordination at the Ministry of Justice and
\nHuman Rights Wicipto Setiadi said the government had signed the
\nConvention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
\nAgainst Women (CEDAW), but acknowledged it had yet to fully
\nimplement the convention because certain laws still contained
\ndiscriminatory articles.<\/p>\n
As examples, he pointed to Law No. 1\/1974 on marriage, Law No.
\n23\/1992 on health, a draft law on indecent materials and the new
\nCriminal Code draft.<\/p>\n
\"Abuse of women is only considered a moral violation (under
\nexisting laws) instead of a criminal act,\" Wicipto said at a
\nseminar to promote awareness of the CEDAW.<\/p>\n
He said that to change the situation, his office needed to
\ncooperate with other ministries to revise the discriminatory laws
\nand regulations.<\/p>\n
He also said the government had yet to fully implement Law No.
\n23\/2004 on domestic violence, which he said could be one factor
\nin the rising number of cases of violence against women.<\/p>\n
According to data from Mitra Perempuan, a non-governmental
\norganization dealing with women's issues, the number of abuse
\ncases against women reported to the NGO rose from 18 in 1994 to
\n382 in 2000.<\/p>\n
Mitra Perempuan director Rita Serena Kolibonso, who spoke at
\nthe seminar, demanded the government include articles on sexual
\nharassment, rape (regardless of the relationship between the
\naccused and the victim) and human trafficking in the new Criminal
\nCode draft. She added that these articles should come with long
\njail terms.<\/p>\n
An expert on women's health, Kartono Mohamad, urged the
\ngovernment to amend Law No. 23\/1992 on health and Law No. 10\/1992
\non residential and family planning to better protect women.<\/p>\n
\"The government only pays attention to women's health when the
\nwomen are married. Teenagers and young women are not allowed to
\nuse contraception and that is not acceptable in the current
\nsituation because contraception is needed to reduce the teen
\npregnancy rate,\" Kartono said.<\/p>\n
He also said the government ignored the health of sexual
\nworkers, increasing the danger of sexually transmitted diseases
\nbeing spread through the population.<\/p>\n
\"The government needs to include a few points in the health
\nlaw and the family planning law, such as protection from sexual
\nabuse and the introduction of contraception for unmarried women,\"
\nKartono said.<\/p>\n
He realized this could cause controversy because the health
\nlaw states that young people are not even allowed to look at
\ndifferent forms of contraception let alone purchase protection.<\/p>\n
Kartono also said the law should be amended to protect victims
\nof physical and emotional abuse, including those abused by
\nmembers of their own family such as marital rape victims.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-not-doing-enough-for-women-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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