Indonesia has begun a campaign to reduce violence against women

Indonesian religious and civic leaders have joined forces to launch a 16-day campaign against gender-based violence and to pressure lawmakers to approve an anti-sexual assault laws as soon as possible.

The Act-Together Network to Stop Violence Against Women and Children started off the campaign on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, with a virtual interfaith prayer session.

It will include virtual chat shows and discussion programmes on violence against women and children, as well as events advocating for the passage of the sexual violence elimination bill, which has been stalled in parliament for some time.
The campaign will end on December 10th, which is Human Rights Day.

According to organisers, it is Indonesia's contribution to the Women's Global Leadership Institute's annual international campaign, which began in 1991 and has been reinforced by similar campaigns held in Indonesia in subsequent years.

"We've met and assisted many mothers and children who have been victims of violence.
That is why we launched the campaign, and through it, we hope to work hand in hand with society to assist them further and put an end to gender-based violence," said Sister Caecilia Supriyati, coordinator of the organisation from the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd.

According to the National Commission on Violence Against Women, there were 24,786 occurrences of sexual violence against women in Indonesia between 2016 and 2020.
There were 7,344 rape cases out of that total, with less than 30% of those cases going to court.

"We hope that more people will understand about what gender-based violence is really about and finally work together"

"The first job is to work together to persuade politicians to enact the bill right away," the nun explained.

Since 2012, the long-awaited bill to protect women and children from sexual predators has been on and off the legislative agenda.

Sister Supriyati said, "We hope that more people will realise what gender-based violence is all about and that we can finally work together to eliminate violence against women and children."

Gender-based violence "is a human rights concern and the fundamental foundation of other crimes against women, like as human trafficking," said Jesuit Father Ignatius Ismartono, an adviser to Sahabat Insan, a migrant group participating in the campaign, in an interview with UCA News.