Minister: Sexual Violence Cases Cannot Be Settled Amicably

Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA) Arifah Fauzi has stressed that no case of sexual violence should be settled amicably. “From several existing cases, there are indeed cases that were resolved amicably. However, for sexual violence cases, there must be no restorative justice,” Arifah asserted when met at City Hall, Jakarta, Thursday. According to her, sexual violence cases must be processed through judicial channels and cannot be settled out of court. Furthermore, Arifah acknowledged that on the ground, cases are still frequently tossed from one agency to another. For this reason, she believes a pilot programme for integrated service delivery for women and children needs to be implemented. “All this time, victims have often had to move from one complaint post to another, then be transferred again to the next agency, and even return to the previous agency. It is conditions like these that ultimately make victims reluctant to report,” said Arifah. Arifah said one of the causes is the convoluted reporting process. Therefore, she continued, the PPPA Ministry is initiating efforts so that all agencies involved in handling victims can be within one integrated service system, or ideally under one roof. “Thus, the victim’s needs in terms of security, health, and other needs can be met in one place. However, of course, this requires a long process. Because of that, we are starting from DKI Jakarta,” said Arifah. She revealed that if the programme runs well in the capital and has been evaluated to be more refined, the programme will then be implemented in other regions. “As it progresses, we will continue to learn, observe existing shortcomings, improve them, and ensure victims’ rights can be better fulfilled,” Arifah said.