Ina Parlina and Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – As with high profile figures found guilty of corruption, public officials involved in sexual assault may be stripped of their political rights, if the House of Representatives endorses the sexual violence bill.

The bill, aimed at handing down stricter punishments and implementing preventive measures, is being finalized by the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), while the plan to endorse it has been included in this year's National Legislation Program (Prolegnas).

A similar punishment has been imposed on a number of corruption convicts in the past couple of years, although not all levels of courts have carried out the measure. For instance, the Jakarta Corruption Court rejected the demand of prosecutors to strip former Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar and former Banten governor Ratu Atut Choisiyah of their political rights in two different graft cases.

Komnas Perempuan chairwoman Azriana said that after the bill was passed into law, the omission of rights would be decided by a judge. The commission visited the State Palace on Wednesday to inform President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on the progress of the draft in a meeting in which the bill received support from the President.

Komnas Perempuan is introducing the bill after finding that four other prevailing regulations designed to protect women and children from sexual violence, including Article 285 of the Criminal Code (KUHP), the Child Protection Law, the Domestic Violence Law and the Human Trafficking Law have failed to serve as an answer to numerous problems surrounding sexual assault cases.

One of the problems is victims' difficulty in presenting evidence, while the police remain sluggish in responding to the reports. "Because if the culprit is a public official, it will complicate the case since the person has power over the victim," she said after the meeting.

The commission also found that 70 percent of the culprits were people close to the victims, including family members, neighbors, employers and lecturers.

Although the commission found that few public officials had been involved in sexual violence, she said that incidents often went unreported. "Speaking about numbers, we must also realize that sex crimes are hard to uncover," she added.

Police officers lacking knowledge of issues revolving around women and children also contributed to sluggish police investigations into sexual violence cases involving women and children.

National Police spokesperson Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar cited the limited number of Women and Children Protection Unit (UPPA) units at subprecinct police stations throughout the country as a core problem.

"Besides the lack of officers working at the subprecinct stations, the existing ones also need further education and more training," Boy said. "Similar problems do not occur in precinct police stations".

The National Police recorded 495 units dedicated to the protection of women and children nationwide, where as many as 2,149 policewomen handled cases involving women and children. Of the policewomen assigned to the units, only 1,050 were equipped with skills and knowledge of women and children protection.

Meanwhile, the National Police have recorded 249 crimes against children and women this year. Among such crimes, 70 cases of violence against women were reported to the police. In addition to violence against women, the list includes violence against children, trafficking of women and children, rape, sexual exploitation and molestation.

Despite the lack of UPPA units, Boy of the National Police assured that the police attempted to pursue all reports submitted to the police. "We do with what we have," he said.

Other than the omission of rights, the draft also introduces a number of legal measures, such as allowing victim testimony to be used as an evidence, along with another evidence.

The bill will also ensure better recovery measures for victims and their families, including in psychological, medical and economic terms. "After the bill is endorsed, victim recovery should no longer be neglected," Azriana said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/06/09/sexual-violence-bill-targets-govt-officials.html