Specific rape legislation urgent, activist says

Specific rape legislation urgent, activist says

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."