Activists decry abuse of women

Activists decry abuse of women

JAKARTA (JP): Women activists decried yesterday increased
violence against women this year and blamed it partly on
Indonesia's ingrained patriarchal values.

Ita Fatia Nadia, Tati Krisnawaty and Nursyahbani Katjasungkana
spoke of the difficulties in fighting violence against women in a
society which considers men more important.

This situation persisted despite growing awareness of women's
issues, they pointed out.

"Just notice how the society, especially law enforcers, are
reluctant to interfere in domestic violence," Ita from
Kalyanamitra said when announcing the findings of the
organization's study into violations of women's rights. The
announcement is to commemorate today being International Human
Rights Day.

One of the findings was that 210 rapes were reported between
January and November this year, up from 189 last year.

"Sadly enough, this is only early December," Ita said.

Of the 210 victims, 115 were aged between 6 and 15 years. The
remaining 95 were between 15 and 20 years old.

The majority of the victims, 164, knew their attackers.

There were 34 reported cases of domestic violence against
women, mostly uninterrupted by police who considered the disputes
private.

"Apparently women cannot expect their safety to be guaranteed,
not even in their homes," Ita said.

Tati Krisnawaty from Women's Solidarity called for special
attention to the plight of women workers abroad who often
suffered inhumane treatment from employers.

Tati cited women who died abroad from incidents, reportedly
"work-related," whose families were not promptly notified. Some
were told their daughters or wives had died abroad only a month
later.

The official record for Indonesian women working overseas is
700,000, most of whom are employed as domestic helpers and know
little of their legal rights.

Tati said various measures were needed to solve the problem at
home including empowering women to counter "male hegemony in
society."

She discussed the various possible ways, including fighting
the many advertisements that depict women as inferior to men and
link women to "domestic roles such as cooking, raising children
and serving their husbands".

Several TV advertisements have been criticized for portraying
women as sex objects. They include the commercial for the herbal
medicine Idaman which claims it restores women's youthful sexual
appeal so much that husbands stop going to "meetings" every night
and stay home with their revitalized wives.

Nursyahbani, director of the Association of Indonesian Women
for Justice, a legal aid office, said reform should be launched
in various spheres, from the law and its enforcers to the
public's attitude toward women. (06)