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.