NGO wants more protection for women's rights<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A seminar urged the government yesterday to
\ninclude protection of women's rights in the curriculum of
\nadvanced studies for civil servants to eliminate discrimination
\nagainst women.<\/p>\n
"It is necessary for government officials to have knowledge of
\nefforts to protect women, children and families, as well as other
\nrelevant information," K. Soepardjo Roestam, an executive of a
\nwomen's organization, the Partnership in Development Forum, told
\nthe Second National Workshop of Human Rights.<\/p>\n
Women's rights was among the issues discussed in the three-day
\nworkshop opened by President Soeharto on Monday.<\/p>\n
Roestam called on the government to provide the necessary
\nknowledge on the subject not only through scientific workshops
\nand seminars, but also professional upgrading courses, as well as
\nother advanced studies for officials.<\/p>\n
She said that discrimination against women was widespread due
\nto the lack of public awareness about their rights. Underlining
\nthe need to improve awareness among both men and women, she said
\nthat she once new of there a husband who locked his wife in the
\nhouse whenever he left home. The woman accepted such treatment
\nbecause she was unaware this was a violation of her rights.<\/p>\n
Earlier yesterday Payaman Simanjuntak from the Ministry of
\nManpower lashed out at discrimination against women in the
\nworkplace.<\/p>\n
He said there were companies which did not provide the same
\nbenefits for men and women. In other cases, some working women
\nhave to resign because their companies do not permit the marriage
\nof employees of the same firm.<\/p>\n
In a discussion on how to eliminate poverty, Satjipto
\nRahardjo, a leading sociologist and member of the National Human
\nRights Commission, pointed out that law enforcement in the
\ncountry often favored the rich and the powerful.<\/p>\n
The principles of equality before the law do not work because
\nthe first thing the authorities ask is who the accused is,
\ninstead of what the accused has done, Rahardjo pointed out.<\/p>\n
"Such practices, however, have never been exposed because
\ndoing so would be considered inappropriate," he said.<\/p>\n
Poverty can only be eliminated if law enforcement in the
\ncountry favors the oppressed, he said. In this case, "law
\nenforcers must be not only honest and respectable, but also
\nbenevolent".<\/p>\n
By half<\/p>\n
The government is determined to cut the current number of
\npeople living under the poverty line from 27 million by half
\nwithin the next five years.<\/p>\n
One of the government's efforts to eliminate poverty is by
\nproviding loans for poor villagers. Under the program, each
\nvillage is granted Rp 20 million in loans to be distributed
\ndirectly to the villagers.<\/p>\n
Mubyarto, an expert of the National Development Planning
\nBoard, however, expressed pessimism that all of the money will
\nreach those who need it.<\/p>\n
He also said that the rate of failure of the program might be
\nas high as 30 percent.<\/p>\n
Among the other speakers at yesterday's workshop was T. Mulya
\nLubis, chairman of the Center for the Study of Human Rights, who
\ndiscussed the protection of rights in the country. He pointed out
\nthat rights could not be fully implemented due to the corrupt
\njudicial institutions, the lack of lawyers' independence and
\npress freedom, the weakness of the House of Representatives and
\nthe restrictions put by the government on the activities of non-
\ngovernmental organizations.(sim)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ngo-wants-more-protection-for-womens-rights-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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