Sausan Atika, Jakarta – The long battle to end discrimination against women in Indonesia seems to be getting longer and longer as politicians remain at an impasse over passing pro-women legislation.
Thirty-six years after the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) into law in 1984, the fight to make the country a safer place for women has stalled over protracted negotiations about deliberating the relevant legislation.
The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) revealed its recommendations for the 36th anniversary of the CEDAW ratification on July 24, calling on the House of Representatives to pass three bills relevant to the empowerment of women: the sexual violence eradication bill, the domestic workers protection bill and the bill for gender equality and justice.
"[We urge] the House not to postpone the passing of the sexual violence eradication bill as a legal basis for victims' access to substantive justice [and] the domestic workers protection bill as an acknowledgement of and guarantee for domestic workers," Komnas Perempuan commissioner Theresia Iswarini said during a virtual press conference on Friday.
"[We also call on the House not to postpone] the bill on gender equality and justice as the basis of equality between men and women in all processes of [national] development," she added.
The House included the sexual violence eradication and domestic workers protection bills in the 2020-2024 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) shortlist, but both were excluded from this year's list of priorities.
Both bills have already been deliberated for more than a decade. In previous terms, lawmakers failed to pass them into law despite repeatedly being flagged as priority items.
The political tug-of-war over the bills will only take a toll on the victims, Theresia warned. "This makes the long path even longer for survivors to tread, as there is not yet any legal basis for access to justice or adequate services," she said.
In her opinion, the underlying problem is the entrenched patriarchy both within and outside the legislative body, noting the drawn-out discussion on "issues of morality" rather than the sexual violence eradication bill's capacity to promote justice for survivors of sexual violence.
"We suggest that the deliberation of the sexual violence eradication bill be conducted not only by House Commission VIII," she said.
Another commissioner, Veryanto Sitohang, underlined the importance of the role of civil society in overseeing the bill's deliberation, with lawmakers seemingly unperturbed by the sluggish process.
To this end, Komnas Perempuan has continuously held "necessary" talks with religious organizations in an attempt to rally support from the wider population to put pressure on the legislative process, he said.
But women's rights activist Ratna Batara Munti insisted that the work of legislators should not depend on whether or not there was pressure from the public, especially in the midst of a pandemic that has prevented effective monitoring of progress at the House.
"It isn't easy for us to monitor [the legislative process under these] circumstances," said Ratna, who coordinates activities for the Network of Pro-Women's National Legislation Program (JKP3).
"So, it is very important for lawmakers to have a strong perspective on gender [issues] from the outset," she told The Jakarta Post on Friday. "But I am pessimistic about that."
From a broader perspective, and leaving aside the legislative program, Ratna argued that the principles laid out in the CEDAW had not even been properly implemented within the House's institutional framework.
The legislative body has seen an increase in representation among women, from just 17 percent during the 2014-2019 term to 21 percent in the current period, which expires in 2024, according to House statistics.
But women still visibly lack a presence among House leadership posts, despite the House speaker being Puan Maharani. Even Commission VIII, which is responsible for women and children's issues, is chaired by a man.
"How are we to incorporate a women's rights perspective if the structural and cultural conditions in the legislative body are still like that?" Ratna said.
In addition to the call for lawmakers to pass the relevant bills, Komnas Perempuan also urged the House to integrate the principles of the CEDAW into this year's Prolegnas list.
Taking aim at the government, Ratna demanded that both the Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry and Komnas Perempuan – which have the mandate to decide on women's issues – "intervene" and instill gender rights into the country's political institutions.
The commission has found at least 421 bylaws that still discriminate against women, even though the government claimed to have found just 114 problematic government regulations and bylaws in a report to the UN CEDAW Committee last year.
To its credit, Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) chairwoman Asfinawati acknowledged the government's attempts to provide better services for victims of sexual and gender-based violence and discrimination.
But she also argued that any improvement in this field would not achieve its optimum result if the options for taking action remained limited, citing as an example how the police still have no legal means to deploy a psychologist to escort rape victims when filing a police report.
"Improving services for the victims seems not to be equally important with passing the aforementioned bills," Asfinawati said.