Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – The National Women's Commission has called on political parties contesting the 2009 legislative elections to address women's rights issues, citing the high number of discriminative policies and recent incidences of violence against women.

The commission made the call Monday at the launch of a 16-day campaign opposing violence against women. The campaign will start Tuesday in conjunction with International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and will end Dec. 10 on Human Rights Day.

Commission deputy head Sylvana Maria Apituley said the campaign sought to encourage female voters to cast their ballots next year, but only for political parties and legislative candidates promoting women's issues.

"Women voters should not miss the chance to elect their representatives in the election. They should use their right carefully. Through this campaign, we are urging political commitment from the candidates to fulfill women's rights," she said.

"Women will contribute a lot to the elections since 51 percent of the population is female, meaning they have the potential to be the majority with about 172 million voters."

Sylvana said the commission had recorded 25,522 reported cases of women's rights abuses so far in the year, including domestic violence, migrant worker exploitation, women trafficking and sexual abuse.

She said the campaign was also expected to abolish laws and bylaws discriminating against women.

"Such regulations use religion and moral and political motives just to criminalize women," she said, adding that the commission had noted the existence of 28 such bylaws.

To push legislative candidates to accommodate women in their policies, the commission also urged women groups to ink "political contracts" with election candidates, commissioner Ninik Rahayu said.

She said the campaign had drawn up a contract agreed to by the candidates that would be disseminated to voters throughout the country.

"This contract will ensure the candidates' commitment to not neglecting women's issues in their policies once they are elected. And it is the duty of women groups and other civil society organizations to monitor the implementation of the policies."

Ninik said a similar political contract had been submitted with and signed by candidates in the East Java gubernatorial election. The contract was drafted by the commission and 35 local NGOs.

During the anti-violence campaign, the commission and 38 state and private institutions nationwide will hold various events, including peaceful rallies, seminars, dialogues and surveys.