Banjar Regency Government Strengthens Community Role in Preventing Violence Against Women and Human Trafficking
The Banjar Regency Government in South Kalimantan is strengthening the community’s role in preventing violence against women (KTP) and the criminal act of human trafficking (TPPO) by equipping cadres at the village and sub-district level with the ability to recognise the modus operandi and early warning signs of these crimes.
Head of the Banjar Regency Social Service, Women’s Empowerment, Child Protection, Population Control and Family Planning (Dinsos P3AP2KB), Hj Erny Wahdini, stated in Martapura on Thursday that prevention must start from within the community because violence against women and human trafficking can occur through increasingly sophisticated methods.
“The main key lies in prevention, and the upstream of that prevention is an empowered community,” Erny said during the Community Mobilisation and Empowerment in the Prevention of Violence Against Women and TPPO event at the Martapura Islamic Centre.
According to Erny, women remain a vulnerable group to violence, whether physical, psychological, sexual, or economic neglect, while human trafficking is now often packaged through offers of high-paying jobs outside the region or abroad. She said the community needs to possess awareness, courage, and solidarity to be able to recognise indications of violence or trafficking modus operandi from an early stage and not be easily trapped by the persuasion of perpetrators.
“The community must be brave to refuse, brave to speak up, and brave to report if they see or experience indications of a crime,” she asserted.
Meanwhile, Banit of the Women and Children Service Unit (PPA) of the Banjar Police Criminal Investigation Unit, Wiwit Hardianti, revealed that out of 31 police reports received, approximately 15 cases were domestic violence (KDRT) with victims predominantly being women. “For sexual violence, the victims are predominantly children, both boys and girls,” Wiwit said.
In handling domestic violence cases, the police continue to prioritise a restorative justice approach, considering that these cases occur within the family sphere. Of the approximately 15 domestic violence cases, some were resolved amicably at the request of the wife with a number of conditions.
The event, moderated by the Head of the Women and Children Protection Section (PHPPA) of Dinsos P3AP2KB Banjar, Dyah Febria Wardhani, was attended by around 150 participants from the Family Welfare Movement (TP PKK), Muslimat NU, and Community-Based Integrated Child Protection (PATBM) cadres from villages and sub-districts throughout Martapura District, featuring speakers from the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency (BP3MI) of South Kalimantan Province and the Banjar Police Women and Children Service Unit.
The Banjar Regency Government is encouraging participants to become prevention activists in their respective environments while building communication networks so that the community does not hesitate to report suspected violence or human trafficking, including through the police service Call Centre 110.