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