Advocates and partisans contend that Indonesia needs a distinct legal framework that defines and prevents sexual violence, considering it as an act of criminality punishable by law. This phenomenon causes a debate and arguably, an unnecessary controversy around the Sexual Violence Eradication Bill. Multiple sexual violence cases are left unreported, and most of the reported cases are left neglected, given that the current law does not accommodate to real cases. Thus, many supporting the bill argues on its urgency, especially when data evidently shows annual increases of cases regarding violence towards Indonesian women, which is shown in the graph below.
What is RUU PKS?
The current legal framework that protects Indonesians from sexual harassment only covers molestation and rape, in which rape is defined as “when a penis forcibly penetrates a vagina.” The Sexual Violence Eradication bill specifies more detailed forms of violence, including: sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, rape, sexual slavery, sexual torture, and absence of consent in abortion, contraception use, marriage, and prostitution. Apart from that, this bill also highlights the necessity of preventing sexual violence in multiple settings, holding parties accountable, along with the protection and recovery of the victims and their rights.
History and delay
The bill was initially proposed by Komnas Perempuan in 2012 due to the rise of sexual harassment cases, and how increasingly violent the cases become. Four years later, the organization is finally asked to submit an academic draft of the bill. In the annual 2017 plenary meeting, the House of Representatives (DPR) agreed to discuss the bill, which was led by Commision VIII, in charge of religious and social issues.
However, complications arose as those opposing the bill began to drift away from its status quo. Certain conservative groups coming from both within and outside the legislation stand on a religious common ground, arguing that the Sexual Violence Eradication Bill holds a “liberal feminist” ideology, defying Islamic values.
For instance, the Vice Chairman of Commission VIII, Marwan Dasopang once correlated the bill with homosexuality. “It has become a concern that the bill may become a definition of liberalism, opening the doors for LGBT to enter (Indonesia)” he said in September 2019. Those who share the same view also believe that the enactment of the bill may cause a permeability towards pre-marital sex, which is against values of the Islamic religion.
Rising religious conservatism is a significant factor that prevents enacting the bill. Apart from homophobia and disagreement towards pre-marital sex, conservatives object the existence of rape within marriage. One prominent character, Islamic cleric Tengku Zulkarnain, vocally objects to the need of consent between married couples. He believes that it is a wife’s absolute duty to serve and respect their husbands.
Some of these arguments, especially those regarding LGBT, have crossed the line of the existing parameters and definitions set by the bill. Because of that, enactment of the bill continues to be delayed, even though existing data suggest the urgency of the bill. Sexual violence related cases evidently do not seem to curtail, given that Komnas Perempuan reported a 7.7% increase of cases from 2018 to 2019 (Komnas Perempuan, 2019).
Alliances such as Service Provider Forum (FPL Indonesia) and other organizations are working hard along with Komnas Perempuan in supporting the cause. There have also been plans of collaboration with the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, however, a number of circumstances including lack of coordination with the ministry and rising religious conservatism become significant bottlenecks to enact the bill. In addition to that, more and more controversies are debated between conservatives and those in favour of the bill. Recently, the vice chairman declared an adjournment for the bill. “We are postponing the enactment of the bill as we believe that the discussions are a bit too hard,” said Marwan during a forum with the Legislative Body.
The statement regarding the delay received negative critics from the nation. For now, the draft is handed to the Legislative Body. The chairman of the Legislative Body, Supratman Andi assures that further discussions will be conducted, albeit it will take a while. He stated that the Legislative Body will review the bill next year and propose it in the next plenary session for prioritized bills which will take place in October 2020.
Indonesia isn’t safe for women
Singaporean based research company, ValueChampion conducted a study that ranks Indonesia as the second most dangerous country for women in Asia Pacific, followed by the Philippines as the third, while India stands in the first place. Poor accessibility to healthcare, ambiguous laws concerning women’s safety, and acute gender discrimination are significant factors that determine the conclusion of the research. (Evlanova, 2019) This is only one of the many reasons why the Sexual Violence Eradication Bill is vital to Indonesia’s growth and safety.
Sexual violence issues have become a crisis with the increasing number of cases. Despite the fact, not all of them are reported to the authorities. A survey of 25,213 respondents conducted by Lentera Sintas Indonesia, Magdalene Indonesia, and Change.org reports that around 6.5% of them have been raped. From these 1636 cases, 93% of these incidents are not reported. Social stigma, victim blaming, and other repercussions drove fear and silence among victims. In addition to that, about 66% of the rape survivors are under 18.
Change.org also conducted a survey of 62 thousand respondents that show 3 out of 5 women and 1 out of 10 men have been sexually assaulted in public. 79% of the respondents also declare that they were assaulted during day time. The subjects of the survey also experienced different forms of sexual assault. 60% of the participants declare that they had been verbally assaulted with obscene comments, car horns, or wolf whistles; 24% are physically assaulted with unwanted physical contact or non-consensual photograph; while the remaining 15% were visually assaulted by perpetrators who flashed their genitals.
Environments held accountable for sexual violence
Komnas Perempuan’s report also provided data regarding the environment in which are responsible for the occurrences of sexual violence. 0.12% of cases occur under the accountability of the country, where perpetrators of assault work under the government or those responsible in enforcing public safety. On the other hand, 28.85% of the reported incidents take place in communal settings, for instance, in schools, religious institutions, offices, public transportations, and so on. And finally, most cases of sexual violence happen in private and domestic settings, which have the tendency to be neglected in court. (Komnas Perempuan, 2019)
The chairman of the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK), Abdul Harris states that on average, there are 30 cases of domestic violence in Indonesia occurring each day. However, he believes that this number is just the tip of the iceberg given that many cases are left unreported. The Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection surveyed that 42.3% people who are or had been married experience limitations in their activities. Out of the group, 24.5% experience economic abuse, 20.5% are abused emotionally, 12.3% are harmed physically, and 10.6% are violated sexually.
Viral Sexual Violence Cases
A plethora of sexual violence cases where more than enough innocent individuals have been harmed by perpetrators. However, when victims seek justice, the law doesn’t make sufficient amends due to unclear criminal codes that do not accommodate sexual harassment violations clearly. Because of this, only about 40% of cases are reported to the authorities and though it sounds bleak, only about 10% of these cases are taken to court.
Amy Fitria is one of the lucky few who received justice after facing sexual violence, albeit it took quite a rollercoaster before the perpetrator was held accountable. In August 2019, a stranger named Raffi Idzamallah AKA Gondes trespassed into her own home and assaulted her, leaving her traumatized and injured after the scene. She immediately reported to the police, however, her declaration wasn’t taken seriously as they believed she lacked concrete evidence to support her statement. A year later, she decided to share her story over her Instagram account, which included the chronological order of the incident, along with screenshots of messages she exchanged with the assaulter who continued to harass her online after the incident. Her post spread like wildfire, which became the catalyst for authorities to begin to take her seriously. Over the course of mere days after her story went viral, Gondes was arrested. Amy’s story raised questions among netizens– do violations must first go viral before justice is served?
In June 2017, Reynhard Sinaga broke the Indonesian and English media with the horrifying acts he performed, unbeknownst to his peers and members of his circles. He drugged and raped at least 195 unconscious men who tend to identify as heterosexual. Even though he is Indonesian, he still faced trial in the UK which held him accountable for his deeds. The incident left Indonesians to contemplate with the management of sexual violence in Indonesia. If Reynhard faced trial in Indonesia, the existing law would only label his misdemeanor as molestation, given that rape is defined as when ‘a penis forcibly enters a vagina.’ The criminal codes regarding sexual violence in Indonesia have not outlined laws of assault towards men yet, leaving countless of male victims vulnerable and unprotected.
A certain Gilang from Surabaya has the Indonesian media’s attention tied to his unorthodox preferences behind closed doors. Gilang Eizan, or more famously known as Gilang Bungkus (bungkus means to wrap in Indonesian) is a bondage enthusiast, fetishizing the act of wrapping his (undead) partners from head to toe in jarik cloth. He binds and deprives his partners from their senses for hours, wrapped in a way that is distinct to Islamic burials.
Starting from a twitter thread written by @m_fikris, the news became viral in a matter of hours due to its shock value. Despite being stupefying, studies show that sexual deviations, paraphilias, and fetishes are more common in the general population. However, they are obviously not the sort of topics that are commonly brought to the table during dinner, hence, the low awareness towards such subjects.
Bondage isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but, according to psychologist Jesse Bering, sexual harm is a relative topic. Harmfulness can’t be measured to a certain degree and what is considered harmful to an individual may be completely harmless, or even helpful to another. But as fingers scroll lower into the thread that has been retweeted over 100 thousand times, it is evident that consent is the key element missing from Gilang’s complex puzzle of fetishes.
He lures his victims by offering them to be a subject for his research paper, where he reasons that wrapping people in that sort of fashion can be therapeutic. Being sensory deprived for hours is an eye-opening experience, allowing the wrappee to have a clearer head, he argues. He also justifies his experiment as an educational tool so people can be less fearful of death.
The now-internet sensation tends to pressure his victims into saying yes without clarifying what sort of “test” he’s about to perform. Whenever he is questioned, he would make his way by guilt-tripping about his disease, along with threats to kill himself. And as the day of his experiment came, his victims would always come home traumatized as they didn’t expect things would go in that direction.
Apparently, this isn’t Gilang’s first rodeo. He has had numerous cases in the past, and his victims include those of the underaged demographic. However, these cases are only featherlight scratches above a vast surface of violence cases, especially the ones unreported. Listing and rewriting each one of them all over again will turn this article into a book with virtually no ending. The sexual violence eradication bill, however, can be a beacon of hope that may turn this thick book significantly thinner.
The Sexual Violence Eradication bill is neither a facade for solidarity in feminist movements, nor it depicts the position of women in legislative settings. Instead, its outcome will determine the true colors of Indonesia’s democracy in the fight against sexual violence and the challenge of rising religious conservatism in the country. The so-called controversy surrounding this bill may just be solved once people start realizing that there is no “gay agenda” or a “liberalism motive” behind it, but a purpose to protect citizens from harm. Indonesians can only cross their fingers and hope that they can be sheltered from sexual violence.
Disclaimer: the views of the author do not reflect the views of The Development Cafe.
References:
https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20200802170846-12-531405/kasus-gilang-bungkus-jarik-polisi-surabaya-periksa-dua-saksi
Predator "Fetish Kain Jarik" Berkedok Riset Akdemik dari Mahasiswa PTN di SBY
A Thread pic.twitter.com/PT4G3vpV9J
— mufis (@m_fikris) July 29, 2020
Bering, J. (2015). Perv: The sexual deviant in all of us. London: Corgi Books.
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/weird-sexual-fetishes-are-actually-very-normal-study-suggests-a6922726.html
https://www.komnasperempuan.go.id/file/Catatan%20Tahunan%20Kekerasan%20Terhadap%20Perempuan%202019.pdf
https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20200702090607-32-519880/riwayat-ruu-pks-di-dpr-sarat-kecurigaan-mengulur-pembahasan
https://www.valuechampion.sg/top-5-safest-countries-asia-pacific-women
https://news.detik.com/berita/d-4721543/ini-poin-poin-ruu-pks-yang-belum-juga-disahkan-oleh-dpr
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https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/07/02/15141751/alasan-dpr-tarik-ruu-pks-dari-prolegnas-prioritas-2020https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/indonesia-49014401
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-crime-women/over-90-percent-rape-cases-go-unreported-in-indonesia-poll-idUSKCN1051SC
https://www.kemenpppa.go.id/index.php/page/read/31/1742/perempuan-rentan-jadi-korban-kdrt-kenali-faktor-penyebabnya
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jan/06/reynhard-sinaga-peter-pan-phd-student-who-raped-scores-of-men
https://tirto.id/penarikan-ruu-pks-meroketnya-angka-kekerasan-terhadap-perempuan-fPpl