NGOs launch campaign to save women's lives<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Activists and health experts are joining hands for a
\nnationwide campaign to increase awareness, particularly among
\ndecision-makers, of the high rate of mortality and abuse suffered
\nby Indonesian women.<\/p>\n
Initiated by the Coalition for a Healthy Indonesia and the
\nJohns Hopkins University Center for Communications Program, the
\nthree-month-long Saving Women's Lives campaign was kicked off on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
\"By constantly disseminating information we expect the full
\nsupport of decision-makers and all parties in the community,\"
\ncoalition coordinator Gefarina said during a media conference
\nheld at the Kusuma Bangsa Foundation's Family Clinic in Pisangan
\nBaru, East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Violence against women, either at home or in the workplace,
\nhas reached staggering proportions. In Jakarta, a woman is raped
\nevery five hours, mostly by their husbands or close relatives,
\naccording to data from 1999.<\/p>\n
A lack of access to information, health facilities and
\nindividual control over their reproductive organs leaves women
\nprone to cervix cancer and breast cancer, and makes them two to
\nfour times more vulnerable to HIV\/AIDS compared to men.<\/p>\n
In 1997, the mother mortality rate in Indonesia was the
\nhighest in Southeast Asia with 343 deaths per 100,000 births, and
\nit has not gone down significantly since.<\/p>\n
Aisyah Hamid Badlowi, a member of the House of Representatives
\nCommission VII for people's welfare, said the existing
\nregulations were insufficient to protect the rights of women and
\nchildren.<\/p>\n
She acknowledged that many people were still reluctant to
\naccept gender equality, and that not all lawmakers and government
\nofficials responsible for crafting regulations had adequate
\nknowledge or understanding of the issue.<\/p>\n
Indonesia ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All
\nForms of Discrimination Against Women in Law No. 7\/1984.<\/p>\n
But very few laws and decrees have been enacted to implement
\nthe convention. Those that have been enacted include a 1992 law
\non health, a 1997 law on manpower and a 1989 ministerial decree
\nthat protects women from being dismissed from their jobs because
\nof marriage or pregnancy, Aisyah said.<\/p>\n
\"But the implementation of the convention here has not been
\nadjusted according to local culture and norms, and has not
\nprotected women as some of the regulations are actually
\ncontradictory to the convention's substance.<\/p>\n
\"We need laws -- along with a serious commitment to their
\nimplementation -- to save women's lives,\" she said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ngos-launch-campaign-to-save-womens-lives-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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