Jakarta – As concerns over persisting violence against women are reemerging, hundreds marched through the streets of Jakarta on Saturday (04/03) to demand an end to gender-based violence and the abolishment of gender-biased regulations.
According to the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), each year thousands of women in Indonesia are subject to sexual violence. Of the 6,500 cases reported to the commission in 2015, 70 percent involved rape.
"These cases were reported. We don't know how many were not out of shame, fear and worry that complaints will be disregarded," Komnas Perempuan educational division chief Masruchah said during the march.
Every two hours, three women are sexually assaulted in Indonesia. The incidents can take place anywhere, including home and workplace.
Masruchah said that often teenage girls fell pray to sexual abuse. "Lots of these girls are culturally conditioned to see their bodies as gifts to their boyfriends, regardless of possible pregnancy, which could get them expelled from schools," she said.
In Papua, many schoolgirls are coerced into becoming child brides and are sacrificed for economic benefit, said Helena Kogobau of the Women's Liberation Committee of Papua. "Women and girls in Papua are exchanged like a commodity, they are forcibly married off to wealthier men," she said.
Helena added that sexual violence affects thousands of women in Papua, and discrimination is still prevalent under the society's strong sense of patriarchy.