Message between the lines sparks controversy<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The controversy over a public service
\nadvertisement regarding violence against women has refused to go
\naway, with women activists now threatening to sue newspapers and
\nmagazines that continue to run it.<\/p>\n
The ad depicts a woman's thighs in a tight miniskirt. The text
\nbetween her legs reads \"How can we keep sexual crime rates down,
\nif your skirts continue to rise?\"<\/p>\n
Outraged women's rights activists have demanded that
\nnewspapers stop running the ad or face legal action for
\n\"pornography\" and the degradation of women.<\/p>\n
They criticize Minister of Women's Affairs Mien Sugandhi for
\n\"doing nothing\" about indecent ads that insult women's dignity in
\nthe print and electronic media.<\/p>\n
\"The ad doesn't support the campaigns on crime against women.
\nIt makes women the culprits in the widespread violence against
\nwomen,\" Ita F. Nadia of Kalyanamitra, which runs a communication
\nand information center for women, said yesterday.<\/p>\n
The Forum Keadilan magazine in its latest edition apologized
\nto the public and promised not to run the ad again.<\/p>\n
At the heart of the controversy is how one is to interpret the
\nunderlying message of the ad, which was created by the Adwork
\nEuro RSCG Ball Partnership agency in cooperation with the
\npublishing papers.<\/p>\n
The agency says the ad was meant to remind women of the danger
\nof wearing clothes that could provoke men to make sexual
\nadvances.<\/p>\n
\"We regret Forum's policy to quickly drop the ad,\" said Adwork
\nEuro RSCG spokesman Ndang Sutisna in a statement. Debates for and
\nagainst a particular issue is natural in a democracy.\"<\/p>\n
Karni Ilyas, Forum's chief editor, said, \"Our staff members
\nwho looked after the ad were all women and wearing miniskirts.
\nAnd they didn't appear to mind.\"<\/p>\n
Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, a senior lawyer from the Indonesian
\nLegal Aid Foundation, said the ad's text assumes that \"miniskirts
\nare to blame for the rising incidence of crimes against women.\"<\/p>\n
\"The message is too simplistic. We have data which show that
\nno rape victim was wearing a miniskirt when it happened,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The ad strengthens the myth that rape victims are beautiful
\nwomen cruising around at night in provocative clothing, she said.<\/p>\n
Last years's gang rape of Acan's wife and teenage daughters in
\nBekasi, West Java, destroyed the myth, she said. \"The robbers
\nbroke into the house early in the morning and raped the women.\"<\/p>\n
Of the 185 rape cases that Kalyanamitra registered in 1994, 74
\npercent of the rapists were known to the victims and 99 percent
\nof the assailants were mentally sound. Of the victims, 28 percent
\nwere not \"beautiful\" according to Kalyanamitra.<\/p>\n
The survey found that 73 percent of the cases were
\npremeditated. But none of the victims was wearing a miniskirt at
\nthe time.<\/p>\n
There is no official figure on the number of rape cases in
\nIndonesia. Quoting police estimates, Ita said between 1992 and
\n1993, one woman was raped in Indonesia every hour.<\/p>\n
Kalyanamitra recorded 564 cases of rape in 1995. Most victims
\nwere girls aged between six years and 14 years. Almost 90 percent
\nof the rapists were known by the victims. None of the victims was
\nwearing a miniskirt.<\/p>\n
Chief the Indonesian Association of Advertising Companies, Ken
\nSudarta, said he could not find anything offensive with the ad.<\/p>\n
In the Jan. 29 edition of Merdeka newspaper, he was quoted as
\nsaying, \"Why don't they protest other ads featuring aspects of
\nwomen's beauty, including women in tight miniskirts? Why are they
\ntargeting this public service ad.\"<\/p>\n
Sudarta said that advertising's code of ethics does not deal
\nwith ads \"featuring women's thighs in tight miniskirts\", which he
\nsaid is a common scene in fashion shows.<\/p>\n
\"Let's look at the positive side of the ad. It is intended to
\nadvise women against wearing tight miniskirts because their dress
\ncould provoke men into having (sexual) fantasies,\" he said. (pan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/message-between-the-lines-sparks-controversy-1447893297",
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