Women's rights activists attack judiciary on attitudes to rape

JAKARTA (JP): Law enforcers and judges are prejudiced against women when dealing with rape cases, women's rights activists said yesterday.

In a discussion sponsored by 16 non-governmental organizations specializing on women's rights, the activists accused police interrogators and judges of believing that victims were guilty in rape cases.

"Police, judges and other legal officers still regard rape as a myth, accusing rape victims of being the guilty party," said Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, a legal expert on women's rights from the Indonesian Women's Association for Humanity.

She said police and judges had often sidelined rape victims.

"They ask victims embarrassing questions to make them look like willing partners," she said. The officers often tried to harass victims into giving confessions.

Nursyahbani said some judges and police even mocked victims and made them feel guilty of provoking rape.

"If this mentality and misperception towards rape victims does not change, all efforts to help the victims would be wasted," she said.

Another factor which made rape victims reluctant to seek justice was the legal requirement that a victim must report the case immediately after the assault.

"This means that victims can't go to the doctor or clean themselves, and this is difficult because they would normally first go to doctors for help," Nursyahbani said.

Nursyahbani asked whether it was possible to amend legal procedures for rape cases. "Let the victims get medical help or clean themselves before they report to the police. This way they can also equip themselves with medical reports," she said.

The Criminal Code's articles 285 and 289 on rape stipulate that a case can only be categorized as rape if the victim has been violently assaulted.

"The articles are too broad (for interpreting sexual abuse) because rape doesn't necessarily mean assault, since the attacker can use other means like drugs," she said.

Myra Diarsi, one of the activists, said repeated attacks occurred because of the unbalanced position of women in society.

"Women have always been condemned as a victims. They don't have equal rights to men," she said.

This is the core of the problem," Myra added. (12)