The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) has urged the House of Representatives (DPR) and the government to ratify the sexual violence prevention bill (RUU TPKS) without delay to commemorate Mother’s Day.

In a press statement issued here on Wednesday, Komnas Perempuan chairperson Andy Yentriyani said that the recommendation of the bill’s ratification was done to continue the spirit of the women’s movement of December 22, 1928.

Civil society organizations have been pushing for the ratification of the sexual violence prevention bill for the last nine years, she added.

The commission has called for the support of civilians from all sections such as religious mass organizations, students organizations, independent organizations, academicians, professional organizations, and service institutions, she noted.

Komnas Perempuan has asked such organizations to continue to monitor the discussions at DPR and pressure the government to ratify the sexual violence prevention bill to achieve justice for women victims, she added.

Yentriyani also called for the support of educational institutions to quickly and accurately respond to progressive policies issued by the Religious Affairs Ministry and the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry.

This response should come in the form of developing policies that prevent and handle sexual violence on campus and in other educational environments, she added.

Komnas Perempuans’ 2021 Annual Record shows that, throughout 2020, as many as 299,991 cases of violence against women were reported to various service institutions, she noted.

Sexual violence dominated all other forms of violence such as physical, mental, and economic, with 45.6 percent of the reported incidents occurring in public spaces and 17.8 percent in personal spaces or households, she said.

Rape ranked second after incest (882 cases), with 792 cases of rape registered in 2020, she informed.

“Women with disabilities are not immune from acts of sexual violence. In fact, of all the cases of violence against women with disabilities, 79 percent of them involved sexual violence,” Yentriyani highlighted.

Source: Antara News