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Sebuah Kepedulian

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Dokumentasi pelatihan kespro remaja di Punggelan

Oleh Emi Sumiyati (P3A SEJOLI Punggelan Banjarnegara)

Pertama kali saya bergabung dengan Mitra Wacana WRC adalah saat saya mengikuti pelatihan Kesetaraan Gender pada tahun 2013.Dalam pelatihan tersebut saya baru tahu bahwa manusia itu sama “memiliki kedudukan yang sama” baik laki-laki maupun perempuan.

Setelah dari pelatihan tersebut saya mulai berani untuk berbicara.Sebelumnya saya adalah seorang yang paling minder apalagi untuk menyampaikan gagasan atau pendapat di depan orang, takut salah kalau berbicara. Ketidak beranian saya mungkin dilator belakangi oleh masa kecil saya.Pada waktu kecil saya trauma karena sering meilhat kekerasan di rumah, orang tua sering bertengkar di depan anak-anaknya. Hal tersebut membuat sayat akut dan trauma untuk berbicara kepada orang lain, takut memancing kemarahan atau tidak sesuai dengan pendapat orang lain.

Setelah aktif di SEJOLI, perlahan-lahan saya mulai berani berbicara, bersosialisasi kesekolah-sekolah dan majelis-majelis di desaBondolharjo.Namun, satu hal yang saya masih belum memiliki keberanian dalam berbicara ataupun melakukan tindakan yaitu soal penanganan kasus. Dalam hal ini saya masih ‘wani-wani pitek’ istilah jawanya, artinya antara berani dan tidak, berani karena merasa simpati pada korban dan tidak berani karena takut mendapat ancaman, intimidasi oleh pelaku atau pun masyarakat. Tapi selama ini lebih banyak takutnya dari pada beraninya, meskipun sudah mendapat ilmu dan pelatihan yang banyak dari Mitra Wacana WRC.

Apalagi di Bondolharjo banyak sekali kasus, hal inilah yang membuat saya dan teman-teman SEJOLI merasa berat bila harus ditinggalkan oleh Mitra Wacana WRC. Dalam kasus-kasus sebelumnya saja, kita masih belum melakukan tindakan apa-apa karena belum berani dan lebih tepatnya masih dianggap oleh masyarakat dan pemerintah desa tidak mampu menangani kasus. Dulu saya juga sempat mau keluar dari SEJOLI gara-gara kita ada kasus yang berat yang membuat teman-teman pada keluar karena tidak diperbolehkan oleh suami mereka bergabung dengan SEJOLI dan menangani kasus, takut akan dipersalahkan dikemudian hari nanti. Tapi karena merasa saya mendapatkan ilmu dan SEJOLI tinggal beberapa orang, saya merasa tidak tega jika keluar dari SEJOLI.

Meski masih merasa takut bila mendapati kasus, tapi saya kembali bersemangat di SEJOLI dengan ikut aktif bersosialisasi kesekolah-sekolah dan majelis-majelis di Bondolharjo.Dan ternyata darikegiatan sosialisasi yang kami lakukan, pihak sekolah dan masyarakat Bondolharjo merespon kegiatan kami dengan baik dan memberikan dukungan yang posistif bagi kegiatan kami tersebut.Hal itu semakin menambah semangat saya dan teman-teman untuk terus di SEJOLI.Ditambah lagi dengan program kami yaitu AKSI PEDULI SEJOLI terhadap lansia yang ada di Bondolharjo, ini membuat saya merasa semakin bangga dengan SEJOLI.

Dari kegiatan-kegiatan sosialisasi dan Aksi Peduli SEJOLI yang mungkin dianggap masih belum bagus dalam pelaksanaannya tapi hal tersebut bagi saya pribadi sangat bermakna sekali. Inilah yang membuat saya bertahan di SEJOLI ingin membuat hidup saya lebih berarti bagi orang lain, bermanfaat bagi orang lain dengan terus peduli kepada sesame tidak membeda-bedakan jenis kelamin, status sosial, agama, harta dll. Saya yakin bahwa kepedulian kita akanmemberikan perubahan bagi orang lain, meski hanya dalam bentuk nasihat ataupun sosialisasi.

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Opini

Bridging the Gap: Access to Justice for Women in Rural Indonesia

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Sumber foto: Freepik

Author: Sarah Crockett (Intern from Australia)

Article 27 of the 1945 Constitution affirmed that all citizens shall be equal before the law, underscoring a core principle of equality within the legal framework of Indonesia. This foundational concept is further reinforced through Article 28D(1); that every person shall be entitled to protection and equitable legal certainty as well as equal treatment before the law. This burdens the State to grant everyone the right to be equal before the law without any excuses. In 1984 Indonesia also ratified CEDAW (The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women). These laws, while well-intentioned, have frequently fallen short of their goals. Over the years, cases have shown how laws failed to facilitate the protection of women and the prevention of sexual harassment in Indonesia. A key aspect of this is the difficulty women experiencing in gaining access to justice following sexual crimes.

This issue of access to justice for women who have experienced sexual violence is heightened in rural areas. Rural regions are not only more isolated in a geographic sense, but the remoteness of location also creates a scarcity of certain assets. There are fewer resources like lawyers, education on the law and other legal aids. This can make it even more difficult to obtain legal counsel and cause confusion around whether individuals are entitled to legal assistance as well as where they can find it. Many women are unaware of their rights or what legal avenues are available to them to address instances of sexual assault. These areas also lack access to essential legal technology such as systems for digital record-keeping.

This gap can create inefficiencies in case handling, particularly in cases of sexual assault where the documentation of incidents is vital to the provision of evidence. The resulting inefficiencies stemming from outdated or ineffective record systems can lead to lost or mismanaged evidence, creating obstacles to timely and efficient legal justice and undermining the credibility of the legal system. Furthermore, a lack of adequate support systems for victims in rural areas, for example advocacy groups or mental health services, can increase feelings of isolation and helplessness resulting in reduced reporting. It is particularly vital that these issues are addressed as a significant portion of reported sexual assaults originate in rural regions. In a survey of 735 court decisions involving the sexual abuse of women 78.1% of cases were from rural region, although many cases go unreported.

Rural regions and more isolated communities tend to have even greater social stigma around female sexual assault than more urban areas. Traditional values in these areas can prioritize family honour and the reputation of the community over individual rights. An example of how this can manifest is the fact that women in rural regions who are assaulted are frequently pressured to marry their rapist to avoid social stigma by both their family and the police. In 2020 in East Nusa Tenggara a fifteen-year-old rape victim was married off by her parents to her seventy-year-old rapist. This stigma is amplified by cultural norms and patriarchal attitudes that place the burden of blame on victims. As a result, victims fear damage to their reputations or even backlash from their families.

Cultural norms may also encourage reconciliation over the pursuit of legal recourse. There is often pressure to avoid legal action to reduce the perceived shame this would bring the families of women who have experienced sexual assault. Victims may also feel that the outcomes they can expect for reporting will be unsatisfactory and therefore decline to pursue formal justice, particularly in rural areas. This stigmatization not only discourages individuals from seeking legal recourse but also affects their mental health and physical well-being. The stigma could extend to the legal process, where victims may face revictimization through insensitive questioning or biased treatment, reinforcing a culture of silence and underreporting. There is also a trend in rural areas of police lacking sensitivity training when dealing with victims of sexual assault, resulting in a bias against claimants and a culture of victim-blaming, further disincentivising victims from reporting.

In recent years, Indonesia experienced progressive development towards its laws and regulations on sexual violence. For years, the Wetboek van Stratrecht (WvS) has been the sole reference of law on sexual violence in Indonesia. In general, the Dutch-inherited criminal code is not sufficient to accommodate the fast-changing dynamics of criminal law in Indonesia. For years, Indonesia applied a very limited definition of sexual violence that often ending up causing harm to victims and restricted the effectiveness of legal enforcement. The retributive nature of Indonesia’s criminal law also puts aside the victim’s rights and interests which a massive application of restorative justice in Indonesia’s criminal law has tried to reform. Indonesia has now enacted Law Number 12 of 2022 on Sexual Violence which adopted a broader definition of sexual violence. The adoption of a broader definition of sexual violence could be seen from the inclusion of non-physical sexual harassment, marital sexual harassment, and online-based sexual violence.

Law Number 12 of 2022 also puts more focus on the victim compared to the old law as it is more perpetrator-oriented. The new law sets out a series of measures for the protection of the victim of sexual harassment such as medical and psychological guidance, restitution, rehabilitation, and also legal aid. The new law also recognises the importance of the victim’s own statements as well as digital evidence. However, despite the improvements shown by Law Number 12 of 2022, there have been a lot of obstacles in implementing the law. Law enforcement officers, especially police and prosecutors, are often poorly trained in handling sexual violence cases from a victim-centered perspective, resulting in many cases not being taken seriously or being overlooked. This also causes victims to doubt whether their cases would be taken seriously or if they would experience backlash for being the victims of sexual crimes.

The new law on sexual violence is expected to bring fresh air to the enforcement and eradication of sexual harassment in Indonesia. It is also in the spirit of applying the concept of restorative justice in Indonesia’s criminal law, while slowly leaving the long-adopted concept of retributive justice. In its formulation, the Government labelled Law Number 12 of 2022 on Sexual Violence as a more accommodating law and provides more care to the victim by introducing more definitions of sexual violence, legal aid to the victim, restitution, and a higher sanction to the perpetrator. Despite all the claims made by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, the law is far from what seems to be the objective of the law. One of the most vital points in ensuring the success of the implementation of the law is the legal enforcer. As perfect as it is, the law will not be ideal if the enforcement is weak.

In addition, the enforcement of the law in online-based sexual violence remains ineffective. The digital infrastructure provided by the government in battling with online-based sexual violence is insufficient and cannot accommodate the fast-paced development of the internet. This can result in victims being left untreated and the existing systems for protection and prevention of online sexual violence are very minimal. Overall, further work is required in order to facilitate better access to justice for women in rural Indonesia.

 

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