Nurfika Osman – Anew book by the National Commission on Violence Against Women should be used as a tool by judges, prosecutors and police in dealing with women's issues, a Supreme Court official said on Friday.

"The fact that there are many cases of violence against women shows that the legal tools in the country are not effective," said Artidjo Alkotsar, the Supreme Court's deputy head for criminal cases, at the launch of the book, titled "Reference on Handling Cases of Violence Against Women in Civil Courts."

Alkotsar said the country's Criminal Code showed a lack of concern for victims. "The Criminal Code came into effect in 1981 and protects the rights of suspects and defendants more than those of victims," he said.

Kamala Chandrakirana, chairwoman of the commission, also known as Komnas Perempuan, said the book was a response to the rising number of reported cases of violence against women. She said the number of reported cases of domestic violence against women rose from 25,522 in 2007 to 54,425 in 2008, an increase of 113 percent.

According to Kamala, once they entered the criminal justice system, victims faced numerous time-consuming and costly hurdles in their search for justice. She said the process often left women feeling like they had been victimized all over again.

"During the process, the victim must attend court or meet the person who abused them. Yet they are in no condition to do so," she said. "They need to recover from the trauma."

She said many cases of domestic violence went unreported because women did not want to put themselves through the legal process.

More than 50 percent of women who have filed domestic violence charges with the East Jakarta Police's Women and Children Protection Unit this year eventually dropped their complaints. In Depok the figure is 70 percent and in Yogyakarta it is 90 percent.

Kamal Sofyan Nasution, the deputy attorney general for general crimes, said the country's legal system deserved some of the blame for the problem of violence against women.

"This has come about because the civil law system in the country doesn't give husbands and wives equal status, and also because of the feudalistic characteristics of our customs," Nasution said.