Women's Day observed after year of violence

Women's Day observed after year of violence

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Bandung/Semarang/Makassar

Rallies demanding gender equality and an end to violence against
women marked the commemoration of Women's Day across the nation
on Wednesday.

In its statement to mark the national day, Jakarta-based Mitra
Perempuan women's crisis center said that this year it recorded
more cases of violence against women than the previous years.

To make it worse, most of the cases of violence against women
were perpetrated by husbands or partners.

Since January the crisis center has received reports of 329
cases of violence against women, 81.82 percent of them were filed
against husbands.

Rita Serena Kolibonso, the director of the crisis center, said
the nongovernmental organization's next activities would focus on
protection of victims.

She also underlined the need for intensive efforts to
disseminate information on regulations that should protect women
from acts of violence.

Following mounting public pressure on the legislature and the
government, the House of Representatives endorsed this year the
domestic violence bill. Former president Megawati Soekarnoputri
enacted the law.

Rallies took place in Jakarta, Bandung (West Java), Semarang
(Central Java), Makassar (South Sulawesi) and some other towns
across the country.

Those who took to streets in Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang and
Makassar were members of the Indonesian Hizbut Tahrir Muslim
group.

They demanded that the government pay more attention to the
efforts to improve the quality of women.

"The role of women in the country has not reached the maximum
level. Indeed, women are marginalized in the country," said
Ratih, one of the protesters in Bandung.

She expressed concern of the public's unawareness of the role
of housewives, which she said had led to the decreasing quality
of the Indonesian human resources.

In its latest human development index report, the United
Nations Development Program placed Indonesia 110th out of 173
countries surveyed.

In Semarang, around 50 mothers staged a rally, demanding
termination of violence against women. They also urged television
channels to stop programs they considered obscene, which they
said would lead to moral decadence.

The mothers marched from Baiturrahman Mosque to the provincial
legislature building.

In Makassar, women's activists rallied outside the provincial
legislature and near the gate of the Reformasi tollroad. Students
from the Islamic Students Association (HMI) joined the rally.

They presented flowers to motorists and public transportation
passengers during the rally.

In Jakarta, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono observed
Women's Day at the State Palace, reiterating his objection to TV
programs that frequently displayed women's navels.