Specific rape legislation demanded

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

After seven years, the reported rapes of more than 60 women, mostly Chinese-Indonesians, during the riots in May 1998 remain unresolved.

Many other cases of rape and sexual assault only end up in embarrassment and further trauma for the victims if they dare to report the attacks, as even law enforcers often accuse them of having "aroused" or "encouraged" the rapists by dressing "provocatively" or walking alone at night.

Last March in Bengkulu, a woman was arrested for wounding a man, while all she did, according to her, was defend herself against a rape attempt.

Given the country's poor record of handling rape cases and rape victims, legal expert and women's activist Nursyahbani Katjasungkana said it was high time for the government to enact specific rape legislation.

The existing Criminal Code is not comprehensive and specific enough with regard to rape, she argued. Court hearings based on the code have always associated rape with morality crimes, and thus the articles on rape are aimed at protecting moral values instead of protecting women.

"It's not a crime against morality, but a crime against integrity. The international community has even declared it to be a crime against humanity," Nursyahbani, also a National Awakening Party (PKB) legislator, told a discussion recently.

Rape is worse than murder, she said, yet the victims here continue to be traumatized after the crime, during questioning by police and prosecutors, and during court trials.

"Gender insensitivity at all levels -- in the family, society, state and among law enforcers -- has turned rape into an unpunished crime," Nursyahbani said.

The excessively general provision Nursyahbani was referring to is Article 285 of the Criminal Code, which stipulates that any person who, with the use of violence or threat of violence, forces a woman to have sex with them out of wedlock, can face up to 12 years in prison.

Aside from emphasizing morality, another weakness of the article, according to Nursyahbani, was the narrow definition of rape. The Criminal Code, she said, ignores marital rape, fails to provide for compensation and minimum sentences, and failed to provide protection for women.

The Criminal Law Procedures Code also contained some weaknesses regarding evidence (covering witness testimony, and statements by experts and suspects), the obligation to report to the police first for physical evidence purposes instead of seeking medical help, the absence of special procedures to protect victims and a lack of monetary assistance for victims.

The draft revised criminal code also narrows the definition of rape to sexual intercourse. Sexual harassment or assault on children under 18 years old and employees will not be categorized as rape.

Under the draft, victims can also be discriminated based on their sexual behavior and social status, as provided for in Article 496, which categorizes women as married/not married or well behaved/not well behaved, Nursyahbani said.

She suggested that the definition of rape be extended so as not to be limited to penetration alone, but also include any contact between the male genitalia or any foreign object and the female genitalia without her consent.

"The definition must also cover people of the same sex and transvestites," she said.

Victims must also have the right to receive counseling and legal aid, to seek damages and to be informed about the legal status of their case.

Examinations by psychologists and psychiatrists, Nursyahbani added, should be accepted as evidence instead of just medical examinations.

"In short, the rape legislation must incorporate principles that are holistic and woman friendly."