Poor definition allows violations against women

JAKARTA (JP): Violations against women will continue until campaigners abandon their patriarchal interpretations of human rights which disregard women's rights.

Rights activists said at a seminar yesterday the lack of a clear definition of human rights created loopholes for "the patriarchs" to implement concepts which benefit their own interests.

Organized by the legal aid institute of the Association of Indonesian Women for Justice (APIK) and the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM), the one-day seminar featured legal experts Nursyahbani Katjasungkana and Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara, and activists Ita Nadia, Galuh Wandita and Mansour Fakih.

Since 1945 there have been more than 20 international laws on the status of women. These international covenants, the speakers agreed, failed to address the root of the problem, namely gender inequality.

Gender-based violence against women includes sexual abuse, domestic violence, genital mutilation, enforced sterilization and sexual and emotional harassment.

"Misconstrued, incomplete perceptions of feminism perpetuates gender-based violence," Ita Nadia from Kalyanamitra said, adding that people generally got caught up in the defensive rhetoric and discourse of feminism rather than trying to understand it.

The activists agreed the government has not shown enough political will to increase its protection of women's rights or eliminate discrimination against women. The situation has persisted despite the country's 1984 ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Woman (CEDAW). CEDAW was established in 1979.

Ratification of conventions, according to Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara of ELSAM, shows a country's willingness to divide its authority with the international community. It demonstrates a willingness to be dragged to the international tribunal if caught violating the convention.

By ratifying international conventions, a country's credibility is put at stake. "It should, therefore, seek to comply with the convention or face international scrutiny, a consequence no country can escape," he added.

Ita said the media had failed to address substantial issues in women's rights, such as abuse. "Media coverage tends to brush only the tip of the iceberg..certain situations such as abuse have been neglected under patriarchal values," Ita said.

Nursyahbani Katjasungkana explored the implementation of international ordinances. She said these laws have failed to protect women from injustice.

Domestic violence, most of which is unreported, ranked first in women's rights violations. To make things worse, the existing legal mechanism failed to safeguard women from oppression and has in fact silenced women.

Cultural relativism is used to maintained the status quo. Women's rights rank below civil and political rights, she said.

According to Ita, the state's violence against women is evident in the deeply entrenched views of women's role as wife and mother.

Galuh Wandita said violence against women was not a social pathology but a by-product of the "systemic violence" which tolerated disguised injustices against women.

The state indirectly supports violence against women by tolerating violations and neglecting punitive action against violators.

Sterilization has been forced on women for the sake of curbing population growth, Galuh charged.

Indonesia's relatively high maternal mortality rate compared to other Southeast Asian countries, according to Galuh, was a clear indication of the problem because many deaths could have been prevented.

"It is not just a matter of poverty," she added.

The 1996 United Nations Development Program report cited Indonesia's maternal mortality rate to be 650 deaths in a 100,000 live births.

Many international conventions need to be evaluated and improved so they effectively protect women's rights, the seminar concluded. (06)