by R. Valentina Sagala

On Thursday, the House of Representatives’ Legislation Body (Baleg) officially dropped the long-sought after sexual violence eradication bill from this year’s National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) priority list, along with 15 other bills on the list. Marwan Dasopang, deputy chairman of House Commission VIII, said this was because of the “difficulties” in arranging the bill's deliberation.

A 2019 report by National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) showed the ever-increasing rate of sexual violence in Indonesia. At least 35 women and girls were sexually abused every day between 2001 and 2011. The report also recorded a 14 percent increase in cases of violence against women to a total of 406,178 cases. These are red flags.

Indonesia’s prevailing laws do not recognize the definition and complexity of sexual violence. For example, the Criminal Code (KUHP) only recognizes forcible penile penetration of a woman’s vagina as rape. The law does not recognize other forms of sexual violence including sexual harassment. This is one of the reasons why the sexual violence eradication bill is critical to improving the protection of women across the country.

If there are “difficulties”, the lawmakers should look at society, particularly at the women who have for years waited in vain for the bill to be passed, along with the real difficulties and hardships faced by sexual abuse survivors and their families.

The discussions on the bill between the House (Commission VIII) and government had been ongoing since last year. From the initial planning process as mandated by Law No. 12/2011 on the drafting of laws and regulation, the bill had officially been put on the Prolegnas priority list in 2017. In the plenary meeting it was decided that the bill would be discussed at the Baleg, which agreed that the contents of the bill were important in providing protection to the public against sexual violence. Read more via Jakarta Post