Women's rights activists criticize rape bill
Women's rights activists criticize rape bill
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A number of women activists demanded the government revise
several articles on rape in the criminal code bill, on Wednesday
saying that they were insufficient to protect women and children
from the crime.
They also called for the inclusion of marital rape in the
bill.
The Legal Aid Institute of the Association of Indonesian Women
for Justice (LBH APIK) criticized the bill for stipulating that
is must only be proved whether or not penetration occurs and
whether or not there is opposition from the victim.
"Rape is actually a forceful act against a weaker party. The
legislation on rape is supposed to provide rulings on sexual acts
that are opposed by one of the involved parties," said LBH APIK
director Vonny Reynata.
At least 30 articles in the criminal code bill deal with rape,
which is considered to be a moral crime.
"Sexual crimes are not about morality," Vonny said without
elaboration.
According to the bill, rape is a sexual crime committed by a
man against a woman without the woman's consent. A man who
threatens or lures a woman into having sexual intercourse has
committed rape.
The crime is punishable with a minimum sentence of three years
in jail and a maximum of 12 years in jail. If the rape resulted
in death, the crime is punishable with a jail sentence of between
five and 15 years.
The bill also stipulates that rape includes the penetration of
a woman's mouth or anus by the man's penis or an object that is
not part of his body.
Vonny demanded the government also declare that, if a man uses
his hands to penetrate the female's vagina, anus or mouth against
her will, that too is rape.
"In most rape cases against children, the rapist uses their
hands to penetrate the child's vagina or anus," she explained.
The fact that the bill stipulates that sexual harassment
against children is an "act of obscenity" has also angered
activists.
Meanwhile, Purniati of the Elimination of Violence against
Women Foundation, criticized the bill for not stipulating
articles on marital rape.
"The bill disqualifies a wife as a rape victim and it
strengthens people's claims that a wife is only a sexual object,"
Purniati said.
The debate about the bill relating to sexual crimes has been
running for years. In 1993, the Justice Ministry was actually
ready to submit the bill -- which had been prepared since 1982 --
to the House for deliberation.
However, it was postponed until last year due to, among other
things, the unfinished debate on the need to include marital rape
in the bill.
The head of the Attorney General Office's human rights task
force, B.R. Pangaribuan, said the bill needed to be discussed
seriously.
"The bill could be used by irresponsible women to blackmail
men. What if a woman agreed to have sex with a man but later told
the police she did not consent? It will create difficulties for
men," he said.