Bandung Confinement Case: Komnas Perempuan Highlights Lack of Community Awareness

The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) has assessed that the case of confinement and torture of a woman in Bandung Regency, West Java, serves as a crucial lesson on the need to strengthen the concern of families and communities for members who go missing or experience violence. Komnas Perempuan Chair Maria Ulfah Anshor stated that families and the public should be more sensitive when a family member ceases communication for an extended period. “The moment she left home for so long, she was considered missing, but it seems something was disconnected. In my view, this concern is very important. Do not let three years pass without any communication,” Maria said when met at the Media Indonesia office in West Jakarta on Thursday (25/6). According to her, the family should have been able to trace the whereabouts of their family member, especially during important moments that are usually occasions for communication and gathering. Beyond the family, Maria also highlighted the lack of concern from the community around the victim’s residence. She questioned how the torture could have lasted for years in a densely populated residential area without arousing suspicion from neighbours. “If we look at the location of the house, she lived in a rented room where the doors of one house are very close to another. How could this happen for so long? Did the next-door neighbour not hear any commotion or someone crying?” she asked. Maria assessed that social awareness at the community level needs to be rebuilt so that the public does not ignore signs of violence occurring in their surroundings. She also stressed the importance of the role of neighbourhood unit (RT) administrators in carrying out social supervision of residents in their area. According to her, the RT has a moral responsibility to ensure that the condition of community members remains monitored. “This is the responsibility of the social community. She was in the closest environment, which is the responsibility of the RT. Why did it take three years to be discovered? I think this is negligence as a community responsibility,” she said. Komnas Perempuan considers that the decline in social concern due to people’s busy lives can have serious consequences if small issues are ignored. According to Maria, such negligence can ultimately lead to extreme violence against women that escapes public attention.