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)