RI law denigrates women

RI law denigrates women

From Media Indonesia

The South Jakarta District Court has sentenced two defendants
found guilty of secretly filming and later making video compact
disks of actresses while they were bathing, to 10 months in jail
each, while the masterminds of this crime, Budi Han and Gunardi,
got only a year and three months in prison each.

The court verdicts serve as proof that the law in this country
still denigrates women. The sentences were very light in
comparison with the victims' suffering. In fact, this case is a
form of violence against women.

Based on the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW), which was recommended by Indonesia on Dec.
18, 1979, women and children have the right to protection from
all forms of trade in sex or other forms of exploitation.

The lenient court decisions for the culprits who made the VDC
will not deter other perpetrators of similar crimes. It means an
opportunity for further acts of violence against women in the
country.

NURHIDAYAH MANTONG

Jakarta