Free abortions offered for May riot rape victims
Free abortions offered for May riot rape victims
By Stevie Emilia
JAKARTA (JP): More than three months have passed since the May
riots, and some rape victims may now be finding their trauma
compounded by pregnancy.
There have been no arrests on rape charges and the police
claim not one woman has come forward to file a report of rape or
sexual assault. Some have even dismissed the reports as untrue
and a calculated attempt to blacken the image of Indonesia
abroad.
In the continuing climate of fear and distrust, the Jakarta
chapter of the Indonesian Medical Association has made a bold
decision to offer free abortions to the victims.
They are stepping into a potential mine field because the
procedure is a criminal offense in Indonesia and widely
considered a violation of social norms.
"As experts, we feel obliged to help the victims ... we just
want to ease the victims' ordeal," the association's chairman,
Agus Purwadianto, told The Jakarta Post.
Agus emphasized the abortions would be free.
He said some of the association's members had pledged to join
their participation and were willing to run the risk of social
condemnation. They are located not only in North Jakarta and West
Jakarta, where most of the rapes reportedly took place, but also
from the other three mayoralties in the city, he added.
During the riots, about 168 women and children, mostly those
of Chinese descent, were reportedly raped and sexually assaulted.
Twenty died from the assaults or committed suicide, according to
non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Early in July, Kompas daily published a letter from a doctor
facing a dilemma in dealing with a 16-year-old patient, Rina, who
was pregnant after being raped in the riots. Both Rina and her
parents wanted him to perform an abortion, but the doctor
believed he had to uphold his Hippocratic oath to respect human
life from conception.
Agus said the association would cooperate with NGOs, social
agencies and the fact-finding team dealing with rape victims.
"If they find a rape victim who is pregnant because of
assault, they can bring her to us if she wants to have an
abortion," said Agus, who is also secretary of the association's
Medical Ethics Honorary Council and a lecturer in forensic
medicine at the University of Indonesia's School of Medicine.
Agus said the organization's doors were open to victims who
would prefer to contact them directly. "We'll help them on our
own."
He guaranteed the identity of victims and doctors would be
kept confidential.
The government established a fact-finding team on July 23 to
investigate and seek the instigators of the riots, which many
claim were organized. The team comprises representatives of the
Armed Forces, government agencies, the National Commission on
Human Rights and NGOs.
It is expected to present a report in three months.
Member Saparinah Sadli of the Civil Society on Violence
Against Women said the team was still analyzing data and had yet
to determine if any victims were now pregnant.
"But, if there were any, I would have no right to announce
it," Saparinah told the Post Saturday.
The team will announce its preliminary findings next week,
Saparinah said.
Ita Nadia of the Volunteers for Humanity, an NGO which assists
the rape victims, said she appreciated the association's offer.
"The decision whether to perform abortions 100 percent depends
on the rape victims and their families, not us, and we won't push
them."
If the victims decide to opt for an abortion, she said the
organization would furnish them with information on the
association.
"But if the victims want to keep the pregnancy, we will also
assist them, including if they don't want to take care of the
babies afterward."
She refused to disclose if she knew of rape victims who were
now pregnant.
"That's completely confidential information and we would have
to keep it confidential."
She acknowledged the skepticism of some about the rapes.
If they did not believe, she argued, then the people should
come up with facts to disprove the reports. "Through their
refusal to believe, the people have discouraged those who want to
testify."
Law
Abortion carries a maximum four-year prison term under the
Criminal Code. Health Law No 23/1992 states a pregnancy may be
terminated only if it endangers the mother's health.
Agus said the medical association would seek a psychiatrist's
opinion of the victim's mental condition before determining
whether the abortion should be performed.
"If the victim is experiencing mental distress as a result of
the rape as stated by the psychiatrist, we will (have the grounds
to) conduct an abortion because it's considered emergency
circumstances," he said.
According to Article 1 of the health law, health also covers
the mental and social state of a person.
Agus also rejected the belief abortions could only be
performed up to the end of the four month of gestation.
"Technically speaking, medically, abortion can be performed
even when the fetus is eight months old."
He said he and other doctors were not afraid of being
prosecuted, and argued the abortion would be one way of restoring
the country's tattered reputation.
"The rapes have ruined our country's image. Once, I was asked
whether it's necessary for the victims to go abroad to have an
abortion... We'd be further very embarrassed (if the victims did
so)," he sighed.
Agus said that so far he had not received any report from the
association members about an abortion for the rape victims.
Noted lawyer Nursjahbani Katjasungkana said earlier she would
defend doctors who were prosecuted for performing abortions on
rape victims.
"I have some arguments (to defend their actions)," Nursjahbani
told the Post.
She argued the doctors' intention was to help the mothers and
to improve her health. "The doctors' motive is not to kill the
baby. So, they should not be prosecuted," Nursjahbani of the
Indonesia Women's Association for Justice said.
"Besides, our laws have not yet determined when life begins.
And that can be used as the basis of a legal argument if a doctor
decides to go ahead and abort a pregnancy."