Jakarta – The 2004 Law on the Eradication of Domestic Violence has not stopped violence against women, because the applicable punishments were unclear, a women's coalition said.

"Domestic violence cases keep increasing because the law consists only of prohibitions and no clear legal punishment," Secretary General of the Indonesian Women Coalition, Masruchah, told detik.com Saturday.

She said the country's legal system had also failed to protect women and that 25 percent of 39 violence-related criminal cases reported had instead seen women as the offenders.

Nurhermawati from the Legal Aid Foundation of the Women Association for Justice (LBH-APIK) said judges often ignored violence experienced by women.

"Women who experience domestic violence have mostly found it difficult to prove themselves not guilty because they cannot provide the number of witnesses or evidence as required by the law," she said.