Despite prevailing laws on women rights, law experts see discrimination against women as rampant.

Mutiara Hikmah, a lecturer at the Law School of University of Indonesia, said that the government had adopted the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Act) since 1984 but the discrimination was seen in everyday life.

"Just as an example, the protection of the Indonesian government toward our domestic workers abroad, mostly women, is so low in comparison with other countries. Many are still receiving torturous treatment from their employers," she said at a seminar held by Salam UI on Nov. 28 at the auditorium of the Psychology Department at the University of Indonesia's campus in Depok, West Java.

The two-day seminar themed "Cerita Perempuan Indonesia" (The Stories of Indonesian Women) revealed that the country had gender issues where the society's patriarchal culture was legitimized in the laws inherited from the Dutch colonial government that treated women as subordinate.

Mutiara said that the law on domestic violence launched several years ago had raised awareness among women. "The police recorded an increasing number of reports on domestic violence every year since the law took into effect. We believed that no one would dare make such a report," she said.

She also pointed out the dilemma in the Criminal Code that criminalized abortion. She said that the law should make room for pregnant rape victims or unwanted pregnancy as long as the fetus is still four weeks' old or below. "We could improve this condition by raising people's awareness of the importance of women as a pillar in the country's structure, as well as providing education and the same access to information as men," Mutiara said.

Former lawmaker Nursanita Nasution said that women were needed to participate in politics especially during the democracy transition. "Women in parliament only represent 18 percent and most are not politicians, but wives and daughters of other politicians," she said.

Project officer Angga hoped the participants would be more aware of the rights of women and that the information and the knowledge from the seminar could trigger women to reach their potential, while men treat women with more respect.