Adriana Venny: media do not protect victims

A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The chief editor of prestigious feminist publication Jurnal Perempuan (Women's Journal), Adriana Venny, is concerned about violence and the exploitation of women in the mass media, particularly television.

"If we look at the media, especially television, it is as though there are no regulations," Venny said in an interview with The Jakarta Post recently.

She said television programs such as crime news and soap operas -- locally known as sinetron -- were blatantly violent and offered no perspectives that could help victims.

She said that she, along with several non-governmental organizations advocating child protection, had protested the airing of a sinetron featuring child trafficking by a private television network.

"The film, which told about girl who was sold by her mother, was extremely violent. The TV station finally stopped airing the series after we protested," she said.

Venny, who was born on May 22, 1970, in Semarang, Central Java, said the lack of the victims' perspective could also be seen in news programs that revealed the identities of the victims of women trafficking.

Venny, the mother of an 18-month-old daughter, said the newly established Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) had done nothing to stop the exploitation of women and violence on television.

"Although the KPI has urged television stations not to air programs that exploit women and children, it has set out no detailed criteria or sanctions at all," said Venny, who is currently pursuing her doctorate at the University of Indonesia's School of Philosophy.

She urged television stations to censor vulgar words and violent images in sinetron and news programs, as well as allocating time for public service advertisements.

She said regulations, along with sanctions, were needed to help reduce the number of programs exploiting women and containing violence.

"If television stations had to pay fines for airing programs that contained violence, they would not air such programs," she said.

Besides soap operas and news programs, she said the objectification of women could also be seen in many advertisements, such as those for skin-whitening cosmetics.

"It appears in these ads that white-skinned women are more beautiful or better than black-skinned women, although that's not true," said Venny, who wrote a thesis on feminist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir for her master's degree at the University of Indonesia.

Venny, who is also the executive director of the Yayasan Jurnal Perempuan foundation, believes the lack of a gender perspective among media people contributes to the continued objectification of women.

The objectification of women and violence in the mass media, particularly television, and their impact on people inspired Venny to launch the Remaja Melek Media (Teen Media Awareness) campaign.

Discussions on how to view critically mass media programs that contain violence and certain patriarchal values have been held by the foundation at high schools in several cities throughout the country.

Besides publishing the journal and many books, the foundation also produces documentary videos and radio programs on women's rights that air on 177 radio stations across the country.

"We produce the programs and the stations air them once a week, free of charge," said Venny, who received her bachelor's degree in international relations from Parahyangan University in Bandung, West Java.

She said one of the radio programs on the pros and cons of abortion drew protest from a fundamentalist group when it was aired by a radio station in Surakarta, Central Java, a few years ago.

"Although we gave it balance, it still caused protests. But they did not last," she said.

Venny, who replaced Gadis Arivia, a feminist and lecturer at the University of Indonesia, as chief editor and executive director at the journal in June this year, often helps the journal's readers, mostly middle and upper-income women, who face psychological and legal problems.

She said most of the problems related to violence, marriage and divorce.

"Almost every day we receive phone calls from our readers asking for consultations. They have encountered a specific problem, especially dealing with legal affairs, such as divorce."

She said legal aid foundations, such as the Legal Aid Institute of the Women's Association for Justice (LBH-APIK), refused to help some women who come from the middle-to-upper layers in society.

She said hiring a lawyer to handle a divorce case currently costs at least Rp 10 million.

"We have friends who are professional lawyers who charge a 'discount price' of Rp 7 million. But it's still expensive for most of the women," she said.

She hopes the foundation will be able to establish a legal aid institute of its own that can help women regardless of their economic status.

"Women, whether they come from the lower, middle or upper classes, are actually in a weak position in dealing with many problems, including legal affairs," she said.