Women's Protection Deemed Not Yet Optimal Despite Institutional Strengthening
Member of Commission XIII of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), Rieke Diah Pitaloka, has assessed that the expansion of Komnas Perempuan’s mandate through Presidential Regulation No. 8 of 2024 is not yet fully proportionate to real protection for women. Although the institution’s authority has been strengthened, policy implementation and budgetary commitment remain major challenges.
In a public hearing with Komnas Perempuan, Rieke explained that the regulation had strengthened the institution’s mandate through an expanded function of analysing women’s vulnerability issues, reinforcing organisational structure, cross-sector coordination, and institutional accountability. These reforms were described as an important step in fulfilling the constitutional mandate to protect, respect, and fulfil women’s human rights.
Komnas Perempuan’s presentation showed that the mandate has begun to be carried out. Throughout 2025, the institution produced 49 knowledge products, 31 working instruments, and 55 policy recommendations. In addition, Komnas Perempuan received 4,597 complaints, handled 3,682 cases of gender-based violence against women (KBGtP), and carried out 1,332 disclosures.
Meanwhile, as of 30 June 2026, 1,833 complaints had been received. Of that number, 1,279 cases could be followed up, while 554 cases could not yet be processed due to various obstacles.
The majority of cases still occur in the personal sphere. At the same time, gender-based violence in digital spaces continues to show an increasing trend. Rieke appreciated Komnas Perempuan’s achievements. However, in her view, administrative success must not obscure the more fundamental issue, namely the effectiveness of protection for women.
“Administrative achievements must not obscure the fundamental problem that constitutional protection is not yet fully proportionate to institutional strengthening,” said Rieke, quoted on Thursday (16/7).
She highlighted that of the 55 policy recommendations drawn up by Komnas Perempuan, only seven have been followed up. This condition shows that the effectiveness of the recommendations still depends heavily on the commitment of ministries, agencies, and regional governments.
“The state is not sufficient merely to establish norms; it must ensure that those norms work to protect its citizens,” she said.
Beyond policy implementation, Rieke also assessed that budgetary commitment still does not reflect the real needs of victim handling. Komnas Perempuan’s budget realisation in 2025 reached 89.79%.
However, in the 2026 state budget, around 85.65% of the budget ceiling is still concentrated on institutional support, while the allocation for victim handling and recovery is only 4.49%.
According to her, this composition shows an imbalance between the complexity of the problem of violence against women and the fiscal support provided by the state.
“When the number of complaints continues to rise, the state cannot respond merely by enlarging the organisational structure without strengthening the capacity of services for victims,” she explained.
Rieke also highlighted findings by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) regarding staffing governance at Komnas Perempuan. She viewed these findings as momentum to strengthen internal governance so that the institution’s independence is maintained.
“The independence of a state institution will only gain legitimacy if it goes hand in hand with professional, transparent, and accountable governance,” she said.
At the hearing, Rieke urged the government to ensure full implementation of Presidential Regulation No. 8 of 2024 through strengthening coordination authority and follow-up mechanisms for Komnas Perempuan’s recommendations so that they do not stop at mere policy documents.
She also asked the government, together with the DPR, to restructure budget policy by increasing allocations for victim handling and recovery services, strengthening services in the regions, and addressing gender-based violence in digital spaces.
On the other hand, Komnas Perempuan was urged to strengthen institutional governance, policy impact evaluation systems, and synergy with ministries, regional governments, law enforcement agencies, and civil society so that the expanded mandate genuinely produces effective, measurable, and just protection for every Indonesian woman.