The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has urged the government to ratify the sexual violence bill (RUU TPKS) into law without delay.

“If the RUU TPKS is passed into law, it will become a benchmark for state officials to take actions,” deputy chairman of Komnas HAM Amiruddin said here on Friday.

In addition, once ratified, the sexual violence bill will become a product of law and will also serve as a deterrent for citizens in the country, he added.

“This is for the sake of Indonesian women’s rights. Komnas HAM urges RUU TPKS to be ratified as soon as possible,” he stressed.

He argued that if the ratification of the bill continues to be postponed, it would imply that all parties are ignoring the protection of women and children in Indonesia.

The need for sexual violence bill to be ratified immediately cannot be separated from various cases of sexual violence being witnessed in the country, especially those reported in Islamic boarding schools, he said, citing the rape case that was earlier uncovered in Bandung, West Java as an example.

The case involved the owner of a boarding school, who raped 12 students and impregnated eight of them.

The case is just the tip of the iceberg: there are many cases that have gone reported, he said.

If the draft bill is passed into law, the state can improve the respect and protection of citizens’ human rights, especially women, he added.

The initial draft of the bill contains 11 chapters comprising 40 articles. Chapter I contains General Provisions, and the issue of sexual violence is regulated in Chapter II.

Four forms of sexual violence are regulated in the latest draft of the sexual violence bill: sexual harassment (physical and non-physical), forced contraception, forced sexual intercourse, and sexual exploitation.

Source: Antara News