Pregnant single women need help: Criminologist
JAKARTA (JP): Two women, single and impregnated by irresponsible boyfriends, and living in fear of facing ridicule from society. Both heartlessly decided to end their newborns' lives.
Both of these cases occurred in this city this month in less than two weeks.
The first case happened on June 5 when 20-year-old Ida, who claimed to work as a housemaid at the Philippine Embassy, was caught red-handed attempting to strangle her newborn while holding its head underwater in the toilet bowl at the Menteng public health center (Puskesmas) on Jl. Menteng Raya, Central Jakarta.
The baby was saved and Ida left it in the hands of the police. She refused to identify the man who got her pregnant, saying he had disappeared.
The second case happened last Saturday when Fatimah, 28, caused her soon-to-be born baby's death by cutting off its left leg, which had emerged from her vagina while she was urinating.
The young woman then had to undergo surgery to remove the dead baby from her uterus.
Police say Fatimah is likely to be charged with murder under Article 338 of the Criminal Code, which carries a maximum punishment of 15 years imprisonment.
There was no word about the baby's father.
As the mothers are likely to be considered guilty before the law, experts say that those who should be held responsible in these cases is society itself.
Purnianti, a criminologist from the University of Indonesia, said on Monday that the women were victims.
"They have indeed committed a crime, but they are also victims of a series of incidents," she told The Jakarta Post by phone on Monday.
She said that the women were victims because they consented to sex without receiving a commitment from their partners, whatever the consequences may have been.
"It has something to do with lack of sex education, where women are taught to say no to sex, not to easily believe men. Basically they are given the courage to say no," said Purnianti, who is also a women activist.
This type of woman, she added, then becomes a victim of society because they fear society's reaction and eventually chose to break the law.
"While their partners, who should also be held responsible, are free from any charge," she asserted.
The women, she said, are punished according to the law.
"But in issuing a verdict (on such a case), judges should consider the aforementioned aspects as the case is not simple and one dimensional," Purnianti said.
According to Purnianti, the most important thing is shifting the paradigm in society.
"Women who are brave enough to have babies without fathers should be supported. One thing that should be remembered is that a child has a right to live," she said.
Another women activist who is also a psychologist, Myra Diarsi, voiced the same concern, saying that these women need support instead of ridicule.
Besides, she added, there is nothing wrong with having a baby outside of marriage.
"If such a case occurs, we should turn to the social system to see what went wrong," she said.
"What happens now is, students get kicked out of school for getting pregnant. If it happens to older women, they are also ridiculed," Myra said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare's Director General of Community Health Azrul Azwar said there should be services to deal with pregnancy out of wedlock.
"Women who undergo such an experience could then have counseling and get some support. Unfortunately, there aren't any places like that here yet," he said.
"Besides providing support and advice, this could also avoid illegal abortions, which are dangerous," he added.
The current health law bans abortion, unless the pregnancy or delivery could endanger the mother's life. (hdn)