Law prompts more abused women to seek help: Report
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The new law on domestic violence passed last year has encouraged more abused women to seek help, a crisis center's report says.
Before the enactment of Law No. 23/2004, police, prosecutors and even hospital staff frequently ignored women's claims of abuse when they were brave enough to make a complaint.
Under the new law, police can act against perpetrators of domestic violence without having to take complaints from victims first.
The report released by the crisis center Mitra Perempuan (Women's Partners) on Thursday says 443 women contacted it for legal assistance this year, a 38 percent increase from last year's 329 women.
Around 4 percent were teenage girls aged 18 and below, the report says.
More women called the crisis center's hotlines in Jakarta, Tangerang and Bogor, to find out practical information about the law, police and medical services.
Of the cases women reported, 86 percent involved a form of abuse. Seventy seven percent of the abusers were husbands, about 9 percent were boyfriends or close friends, while parents, in- laws and relatives made up 6 percent, ex-husbands 3 percent and employers 0.22 percent.
The data also showed that abusers and their victims came from a range of backgrounds, belying a common opinion that they are generally poor, uneducated or unemployed.
Nine out of 10 women who used the Mitra Perempuan services had been abused more than once, and in different ways: physical (68.7 percent), sexual (40.6 percent) and abandonment (73.6 percent).
About 56 percent were also involved in household conflicts, including fights over child custody, inheritance and alimony, along with polygamy and divorce cases.
Nine out of 10 women also suffered from forms of mental illness, with 26 trying to commit suicide, while 16 percent of women had suffered damage to their reproductive health.
However, while many consulted the crisis center, only 6 percent of victims of violence went to the police, the courts or health centers for assistance.
About 5 percent of women opted to take legal action to settle their cases.
Mitra Perempuan executive director Rita Serena Kalibonso said the media had done a good job disseminating information about the law to the public.
She said that about 23 percent of the women who contacted the center said they had found out about the service from media reports.
"The implementation of Law No. 23/2004 shows the importance of domestic violence prevention and victim protection." However, information campaigns must continue so more women would learn they did not have suffer in silence, she said.
Rita said all state agencies needed to have policies to help victims of domestic violence. The state should also abolish charges on medical consultations to encourage abused women to come forward, she said.