Jakarta – Legal experts and women's rights activists are calling for a review of laws that fail to protect women and children.

"The government has yet to take action on critical issues in laws that discriminate against women," Mitra Perempuan director Rita Serena Kolibonso told a workshop here Thursday.

The discussion focused on the Criminal Law, the 1992 Health Law, the 1974 Marital Law and the revised draft of the 1992 Population and Family Planning Law. The critical issues that require redressing, activists say, include marital rape, abortion, age perimeters, contraception and polygamy.

"Although marital rape is already regulated in the 2004 Domestic Violence Law, most trials still refer to the Criminal Law that does not recognize that term," said Rita.

Surastini Fitriasih, a law expert from the University of Indonesia, said that prior to 1992 the term "rape" was used only to refer to a woman being forced into sexual intercourse outside marriage. "However, in 2005, with the latest revision of the law, (the pre-1992) definition of rape has been reintroduced," she said.

Also of concern is legislation pertaining to abortion, which is prohibited under the Criminal Law and the 1992 Health Law. "Article 15 (on abortion) of the Health Law is so vague. No wonder the Health Ministry itself has taken the last nine years to formulate its supporting regulations," said Kartono Mohamad, a women's health expert. "The government must also regulate abortion and punish its practitioners, not the women," he added.

The proposed revision of the 1992 Population and Family Planning Law, Kartono said, limits contraception usage to married couples and would increase the probability of extra-marital pregnancy. "Contraception should be regarded as the right of an individual, which does not concern the person's marital status," he said.

The age at which a child is considered an adult is also unclear under current legislation, specifically the Criminal Law and Marital Law. "Those old laws should be synchronized with the latest 2002 Child Protection Law that defines a child as being younger than 18 years of age," Rita said.

Women's Empowerment Minister Meutia Farida Hatta Swasono recently said: "The Religious Ministry is the focal point for the revision of the Marital Law, yet they're still averse to accepting the law's review."

Sri Rumiati of the Psychology Bureau at National Police headquarters said: "Our officers face difficulties in implementing legal proceedings due to those unsynchronized laws, particularly in relation to age limits and other vague explanations."

Retired judge Deliana Sayuti Ismudjoko of the National Commission on Violence against Women insisted the Marital Law should not regulate marriage from a particular religion's point of view, "but should comprehensively include all other religions."

Activist Siti Musdah Mulia cited examples of bylaws in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and Gorontalo, North Sulawesi, that regulate women's behavior in the name of morality, when in fact they repress women. "All of the 56 new bylaws enacted between 1999 and 2006 throughout this country marginalize women," she said.

Rita Serena Kolibonso also made mention of a local ordinance on polygamy in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, that permits men to take multiple wives by simply paying a sum of money.