Crisis centers first step in overcoming trauma

Crisis centers first step in overcoming trauma

JAKARTA (JP): She was once a cheerful girl and one of the
brightest students in her school. Now the 16-year-old is in a
state of shock and suffering very acute depression.

This is the description of the teenager's mother, who with her
daughter, a rape victim in the recent riots, managed to summon
the courage to report the incident to a crisis center.

The mother's simple description of herself speaks volumes: "I
feel terribly sad and I am probably going insane."

Looking scared and frightened, the girl recalls her nightmare.
She was raped by seven men when a mob ransacked homes of many
Chinese-Indonesians at a housing complex in West Jakarta last
month.

They grabbed her by the neck, she said, and dragged her out of
the house. "Then some of them ripped my blouse in front of an
angry mob. I cried for my parents' help, but those immoral guys
had threatened to kill us all," she sobbed.

She fell unconscious as the assault began. When she woke up,
naked, she was covered in bruises and could only feel pain.

The girl is among an unknown number of victims of the recent
riots. She and her mother chose to go to the crisis center run by
the School of Psychology at the University of Indonesia (UI).

While some women were killed after being raped and others have
taken their own lives, women like the above teenager will have to
live with the experience.

Crisis centers here, which are relatively new, are at hand to
support and give what other help they can to the victims. Such
support will have to continue for an indefinite period, from the
reporting of a case until trial -- if, as in many cases, the
victim does not drop the charges. The victim would still need
support after the experience is exposed to the public.

The people in charge of these crisis centers seem to know what
they, and the victims, are up against.

Kristy E. Poerwandari, a psychologist at the UI crisis center,
said that victims of rape or other sexual violence are physically
and mentally fragile.

Ratna Batara Munti of the Association of Indonesian Women for
Justice (APIK), is uncompromising in her belief that the legal
system here is still "rich in gender bias." The head of the
research division of APIK's legal aid office said one result is
that rape is underreported as a crime.

Syndrome

Kristy explained that the most frequent aftereffects for the
sexually tortured women are severe anxiety, sleeping disorder,
nightmares, apathy, loss of confidence, depression, and suicidal
inclinations. These are identified as the rape trauma syndrome.

The victims need support and empathy from families, friends
and society, and need immediate professional help to reduce
impacts caused by the trauma to a minimum, she said.

"These women and their families should know that there are
still many who are willing to help, to protect them and to fight
for their rights," Kristy said.

She admitted that many people are ignorant about the current
rape issue, partly because victims are mostly from the minority
group.

"It does not mean that these women deserve less concern from
us and the authorities if they were sexually assaulted," she
said.

She went on to say that the School of Psychology's crisis
center provides professional assistance including psychological
counseling for sexually assaulted women, families who were
attacked in the riots and also victims of mass layoffs.

Other organizations are also offering victim support,
counseling and legal representation.

Sita Aripurnami, an executive of Kalyanamitra, said a working
group involving a number of non-government organizations and
humanitarian activists was already established to help victims of
rape and other related crimes.

Kalyanamitra has been active in promoting the rights of women
through education, information and advocacy.

"But now, we are facing an emergency situation in which women
have become the most weak victims," said Sita.

Sita acknowledged the opening of hot lines and counseling are
only preliminary efforts to help ease the riot survivors' pain.

Kalyanamitra has received a number of reports of rape cases
and will soon carry out integrated actions to deal with them.

Dhanie L., coordinator of a fact-finding team, said that the
crisis center where she works, Mitra Perempuan, has also received
reports from several rape victims and their families.

"All phone calls are treated confidentially and are followed
up with prompt action, including visiting women and families of
riot victims," she said.

Mitra Perempuan is conducting its investigation into the
impact of the riots in cooperation with other non-governmental
humanitarian institutions such as the National Commission on
Human Rights.

The team is checking the number of casualties and victims of
rape, other sexual abuse and human rights violations.

"We find it very difficult to collect information both from
victims and witnesses because they are still frightened to report
the real facts," Dhanie said.

She said that the women's crisis center, set up last year,
received a report from a mother and her 12-year old daughter who
were raped by a group of looters in their own home in North
Jakarta's housing complex. Her husband who tried to help them was
hanged by the mob.

"The mother told us that wives and daughters of her neighbors
were also raped but they did not have any courage to report. We
assume that there are a lot more rape victims in the
neighborhood," Dhani said.

As soon as they obtain valid data and adequate facts, Mitra
Perempuan plans to legally process all related criminal cases and
even sue the authorities who failed to protect citizens, she
added.

But legal victories may be very hard to achieve, says Ratna of
APIK.

Ratna described how legal actions consume both time and money,
especially those involving women seek justice in the current
system for abuse for their rights.

She explained that rape and other violence against women are
the most underreported crimes, while the police and people in the
local legal system do not record such cases as crimes.

"Our legal system is still rich in gender bias against women
due to a lack of understanding and appreciation toward women's
issues," Ratna maintained.

In a rape case in court, for instance, she said women's
accounts were often disbelieved and undermined. Once a woman
reported the alleged rape, she would be drawn into a process from
which she could not withdraw. This could lead to contempt
proceedings and even possible imprisonment.

"Some rape victims have become defendants because (the court
said) they lacked evidence. This explains why so few alleged
rapists are convicted. Instead they are set free, possibly to
rape again," Ratna said.

Despite these obstacles, Ratna encourages victims to reveal
their experiences and to allow their cases to be taken to court.

"We hope that women are brave enough to speak out for justice.
We are here to provide them with moral support, legal aid and
protection," she said.

APIK, set up in 1995, has also been active in promoting the
welfare of female workers, besides protecting and legally
representing victims of domestic violence.

APIK's legal aid office can be reached on 872-6343. Mitra
Perempuan can be contacted via P.O. BOX 4113 Jktj-Jakarta 13041.
Their phone and facsimile number is 829-8421. Kalyanamitra's
phone numbers are 790-2109 and 790-2112, while the UI crisis
center's phone numbers are 788-81376 and 786-3523. (raw)