Rallies for bill on domestic violence

JAKARTA: Several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) said on Thursday they would conduct rallies across the country on June 1 -- the beginning of the presidential election campaign -- to pressure the government to pass a bill on domestic violence.

The rallies, to be organized by the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), would call for President Megawati Soekarnoputri to endorse the bill so it could be debated in the House of Representatives.

The bill was drafted in 1997 by dozens of women's NGOs and accepted by the House last year but the government has refused to debate the bill, which has controversial clauses on marital rape.--JP