`Mothers not to blame for infanticide'

`Mothers not to blame for infanticide'

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A lack of social recognition and legal protection for children
born outside of wedlock have contributed to rising cases of
infanticide and placed the blame solely on the shoulders of the
mothers, a women's rights group has said.

Women's rights activist Nursjahbani Katjasungkana said the
mothers should not bear all the blame as they are also victims of
discrimination in a society where the legal system goes against
children born outside marriage.

She also said that the courts often ignore cases of rape and
forced sex and frequently take the side of the male partner.

Society is quick to put a negative label on the women and
children while conveniently forgetting the part played by the
biological father.

According to the 1974 Law on marriage, children born out of
wedlock lose their social and legal claim to their biological
father and the birth certificate will state that they are
illegitimate.

Katasungkana referred to the antiquated legislation to
highlight the plight of women in general, saying: "Women's sexual
rights do not enable them to say no to unprotected sex and thus,
in a heterosexual relationship, the wife does not even have
control over her own body."

But there is hope, she said, with the latest revision of the
Criminal Code, which obliges the father of a child born out of
wedlock to marry the mother.

However, Nursjahbani believes that time is short as cases of
infanticide carried out by mothers out of shame is much higher
than the official figure and on the rise, despite the severe
punishment stipulated in articles 341 and 342 of the Criminal
Code, which carry seven and nine jail sentences, respectively.

"The sentence terms are much more lenient than the social
stigma and the financial burden that the mothers, as well the
children, have to bear for all their lives," Nursjahbani said.