JAKARTA: When scrolling through social media, Fatma Bandar found at least one case of violence targetting women every week on her timeline.
On Wednesday, for example, the 23-year-old saw a post from a woman who anonymously shared on X her experience of being repeatedly raped by a coworker, and later verbally assaulted by a police officer when she mustered the courage to file a report.
The other day, she read news of a femicide of a female student at Sultan Syarif Kasim State Islamic University in Riau, who was struck by a machete by her male peer.
Reading the news left Fatma enraged, leaving her to blame women’s suffering on “patriarchy that haunts Indonesia’s social and justice system” and blinds authorities to women’s experiences.
“What frustrates me the most is when law enforcement officers fail to take the victim’s perspective, like I unfortunately often see in the news,” said Fatma on Wednesday (March 4). “How long will this continue?”
Indonesian women, like Fatma, lament the lack of legal protection against gender-based violence, with fingers pointing to authorities for indequately preventing and responding to such cases despite the presence of legal instruments to prosecute the crimes.
Such concerns were also circulating among women’s rights activists, including Ally Anzi of Jakarta Feminist, who joined the group after realising that life is not the same for men and women: from the constant fear when walking through poorly lit streets to threats of sexual violence and femicide.
Even after the Sexual Violence Eradication Law was enacted in 2022, many cases of violence struggle to obtain justice, while more women fall victims to such crimes.
In its 2024 Femicide Data Report, Jakarta Feminist found at least 209 victims of femicide across the country. “There are still many shortcomings,” Ally said on Wednesday. “The implementation remains weak, the restitution mechanism is unclear and institutions meant to assist victims are having their budget cut.”
The inequality she observed convinced her that gender equality must be continuously fought for to leave no room for violence.
She supported the work of Indonesia Femicide Watch, an initiative established last year to document and monitor cases of gender-based murder, a job Ally argues should be carried out by the state.
“When the government fails to implement the law clearly, once again it is civil society that must step in and continue to fight for women’s rights,” she said, adding that “nothing will ever change” without the fight for equality.
Structural barriers
While the sexual violence law has incorporated important principles of victim-centred case handling, there are gaps in implementation as law enforcement officers often do not fully side with women who report such cases, said Dwi Yuliawati of UN Women Indonesia.
“When women cannot trust that the law will deliver justice, prevention will never be perfect,” Dwi said during a press briefing in Jakarta on Wednesday. “And if perpetrators are not guaranteed punishment and officers do not fully listen to victims, effective prevention efforts will not be achieved.”
Reflecting on recent cases of violence such as one in Riau, Dwi said gender-based violence will have no end if such incidents continue to be normalised and the justice system fails to address discrimination.
Observers noted that the Sexual Violence Eradication Law has not always been used to punish perpetrators of gender-based violence, partly due to limited understanding among law enforcement officers, who are more familiar with other instruments such as the Criminal Code (KUHP).
The Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry has been working with the National Police to address the shortcomings by developing training modules on the sexual violence law for officers, according to the ministry’s deputy for gender equality Amurwani Dwi Lestariningsih.
While KUHP carries some provisions pertaining to gender-based violence, she acknowledged it has lighter punishment for perpetrators than the Sexual Violence Eradication Law. The Criminal Code also does not accommodate victims’ rights like the sexual violence law does.
“We continue to encourage officers to use the law when handling reports of violence against women [...] At least we have started introducing a gender perspective into them,” she said at Wednesday’s briefing.
Amurwani also acknowledged the persistence of strong patriarchal norms among society as a main challenge in changing gender perspectives in the country, which will take time to dismantle.
“We want a shift in perspective to start not only from the community level,” she went on to say, “but from families, where the foundation of values and norms is formed.” - The Jakarta Post/ANN
