Women's activist seeks law on domestic violence

JAKARTA (JP): A female activist yesterday called on the government to establish a law on domestic violence to protect women from assault.

Chairwoman of the Association of Indonesian Women for Justice (APIK) Nursyahbani Katjasungkana said the law would provide women with legal protection against mental and physical assault by their husbands.

She said the Criminal Code only provides general protection for family members, but failed to specify the protection measures for the wives.

"Articles 351 to 356 of the Criminal Code only provide general penalties for domestic violence against all members of a family," Nursyahbani told reporters after addressing a one-day workshop on domestic violence here yesterday.

The workshop was held in commemoration of the International Anti-Violence Against Women Day.

Nursyahbani cited neighboring Malaysia's legal protection for wives, the Domestic Violence Act, which stipulates a restraining order for a husband who is found guilty of assaulting his wife.

"He (the husband) can return (to his wife) only after the court issues a special permit," she said.

Nursyahbani said husbands' assault against their wives made up the greatest number of domestic violence cases in the past two years. But she said there had been a decline.

"APIK handled 12 cases of domestic violence this year, compared with 29 cases last year," she said.

She said cases of domestic violence had frequently been published in newspapers, but often failed to reach the court as the wives still considered taking such "personal" matters to court a taboo.

She said Indonesian women's misinterpretation of their religious teachings often prevented them from obtaining legal help. (09)