The Jakarta Globe

Emboldened by 2005 Law, Number of Women Reporting Abuse Skyrockets

The Jakarta Globe

Jakarta. The introduction of the 2005 Domestic Violence Law has spurred an increase in the number of women coming forward to report cases of abuse, the country’s leading women’s rights group said on Wednesday.


Sri Nur Herawati, an official with the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan), said it had received 143,586 reports of domestic violence in 2009.

She said this was a huge increase from the total 9,662 reports filed with the commission between 2001 and 2004, before the law took effect.

She said the main reason for the increase was the fact that more women felt emboldened by the law to report the abuse they suffered.

“There’s actually more that we can do, such as getting the women to understand their rights,” Sri said.

“And they shouldn’t wait until they can’t handle the violence any more before reporting to us.”

The commission says 44.4 percent of women who fall victim to domestic violence are illiterate, and thus not likely to be aware of their rights and the laws protecting them.

Sri said that despite the increase in the number of women coming forward, many more women still preferred to resolve cases of abuse through cultural or religious channels.

“Some women who fall victim to domestic violence only agree to get the problem resolved not because they want to stand up for their rights, but because they’re accustomed to community-based cultural means of conflict resolution,” she said.

A Komnas Perempuan study earlier this year on domestic violence resolution in South Sumatra and Central Sulawesi provinces showed women there tended to turn to cultural or religious leaders to help resolve their problems.

Harkristuti Harkisnowo, the Justice and Human Rights Ministry’s director general of human rights, said women who were victims of domestic violence preferred to take this non-formal route rather than file a formal report with the police.

“Given this tendency, I believe cultural law should be adopted into formal legislation, just as in the Juvenile Offenders Law,” she said.

“Therefore, the victim doesn’t have to undergo a formal way, which puts even more pressure on them, but just needs to lay out their case before a cultural hearing. The results of such a meeting must then be used in a court case against the offender.”

WWF, NU Team Up for Green Campaign

The Jakarta Globe

The environmental group WWF has joined forces with Nahdlatul Ulama, the country’s biggest Islamic organization, in an effort to preserve the environment by raising public awareness of the issue.


Nyoman Iswarayoga, director of climate and energy issues at WWF-Indonesia, said on Monday that his group was eager to work with large organizations in a bid to spread the message about saving the environment.

“It’s easier to approach the public through a mass organization that is connected to a group of followers,” he said.

“This is actually not the first time we’ve engaged with mass organizations, including religious ones, for this purpose. For instance, we held a public discussion on preserving the environment from an Islamic perspective in Aceh before the 2004 tsunami.”

He was speaking after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the WWF and NU.

Efransjah, head of WWF-Indonesia, said the agreement called for a combination of environmental conservation and religious values to deal with the impact of climate change.

“We’re confident that the wide network of organizations under NU will help us to raise public awareness about preserving the environment and the country’s biodiversity,” he said.

NU has a history of campaigning on environment-related issues. In 2004, it set up a community-based disaster risk management body to address issues such as flooding and landslides resulting from deforestation.

In March this year, it renamed the body the Disaster and Climate Change Board (LPBI-NU) to better reflect its wider focus on addressing the impact of climate change.

Avianto Muhtadi, head of the LPBI-NU, said that since its 2004 inception the board had worked with various local and international environmental organizations to set up community programs, backed by local clerics, to help preserve the environment.

“NU has 70 million followers and a network of 15,000 pesantren [Islamic boarding schools] in Indonesia,” he said.

“To get the message across to them, we’ll draft material for a dakwah [a campaign through preaching] and train local clerics to present it.”

Avianto said the material would be drafted based on “Islamic values and national or international environmental laws, such as the Hyogo Framework and Indonesia’s 2007 Law on Disaster Management.”

The Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-15 aims to identify ways to build countries’ and communities’ resilience to disasters.

“So far we’ve reached our goals in several districts in Indonesia,” Avianto said. “For instance, we’ve planted 12,000 trees in Jember district in East Java.”

Iswarayoga said while Monday’s signing marked the first formal agreement between the WWF and NU, the two had worked together on environmental issues for the past four years.

As part of the agreement, he said, both sides would set up climate change adaptation programs for different district, tailored to the kinds of problems they were facing.

“We’ll have to identify what kind of problems they have because each district will have a different issue,” Iswarayoga said.

For Religious Violence, the Finger Points To State Bodies

The Jakarta Globe

Indonesia, long considered a bastion of religious tolerance, is increasingly reverting to fundamentalism and intolerance, a non-governmental organization observed in its annual report on Tuesday.


Yenny Zanuba Wahid, the executive director of The Wahid Institute, said the organization recorded 196 cases of violence based on religious discrimination and intolerance in Indonesia during 2010. The figure was up from the 134 cases recorded in 2009.

“Violent acts that go against people’s right to freedom of religion are not only committed by the public or members of large civil society organizations, but also by the state through its regulations, and by local governments and police officers,” said Yenny.

The Wahid Institute’s annual report found that 72 percent of actors in cases of religious violence were from local governments, legislative councils, the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) and the police.

“The environment of increasing religious intolerance and discrimination in Indonesia is caused by unclear regulations,” Yenny said.

“Decentralization has allowed the state to become more repressive. There has been a decentralization of violence and intolerance,” she added.

Nurkholis, the deputy chairman of the National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas HAM), said the institution had recorded a record number of human right violations caused by police officers.

“The problem with the police officers is that sometimes they forget about the human aspect of their duty.” said Nurkholis.

“In many cases of religion-based violence, police bring in the victims for questioning first, rather than immediately going after the perpetrators,” Yenny said.

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said there are certain legal procedures that must be observed when dealing with violent incidents.

He said victims of violence were examined first because they were usually in a weaker position and needed to be protected. “That’s due legal process,” he said .

The Wahid Institute found that restrictions on freedom of religion and the complex regulations related to building houses of worship were responsible for the most cases of religious violence, at 44 cases.

The institute found of 133 cases of intolerance without violence, 83 percent involved civilian groups, which were responsible for 94 of the cases.

These organizations use religious jargon to justify their actions, Yenny said.

The institute’s research showed that the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and even the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) were the main culprits behind religious intolerance and discrimination across the country, she added.

Yenny said that victims of religious intolerance included individuals, church congregations, community groups and minority sects.

The Wahid Institute also monitored both government and society efforts to protect freedom of religion. The report found West Java was the country’s most intolerant region, followed by East Java

Resigned to Their Fate: Jakartans Plan for Higher Costs

The Jakarta Globe

Anita Rachman & Elisabeth Oktofani

Jakarta. Jakartans’ reactions to news of the impending restrictions on subsidized fuel ranged from anger over the price hikes to indifference, with nobody interviewed showing enthusiasm for the new rule.


“It is unfair that the government will limit the usage of subsidized fuel,” said Rina, a private sector employee.

“The rule should be aimed only at people who drive fancy cars. How many fancy cars are there in this town? They are the ones who should actually pay more, since they have more money to buy fuel.”

Jodi Pamungkas, who works at a private company, said he would need to rearrange his monthly expenses if the government went ahead and restricted the use of subsidized fuel.

“I would have to recalculate my monthly expenses, especially for transportation, as I pay for it all myself,” he said. “The government has to think about who this new rule is affecting. Not everybody who drives a car has a lot of money.”

Reza Irawan, who works at a private bank in Jakarta, said he had no problem with the price increase since his company usually paid for his gasoline.

“So far, my company has not warned us about any rule changes due to increased fuel prices. As far as I know, they will keep paying for my transportation. So I don’t think I have any problems,” he said.

Rudi, an employee at a private company in Central Jakarta, shared similar sentiments.

“I drive a car made in 2008. But my company pays for my transportation, so I do not think that I will have a problem with the new rule,” he said. “However, for my personal travel, I will have to get smarter about spending money on fuel.”

Charles Banua, who drives a 1998 Toyota van, was resigned to his fate. “My van is already a gas guzzler and if I have to pay more to use it, I may just sell it and get myself a motorcycle,” the insurance salesman said.

M. Romahurmuziy, a United Development Party (PPP) lawmaker, said the decision to apply the new rule on subsidized fuel for all private cars, regardless of model year, would “disrupt economic justice.”

He said many cars on the road were made before 1990 and were only worth as much as a new motorcycle.

“A combination of the production year and [engine] size should have been taken into account,” he said, adding that cars built after 2005, as well as those built before but with large engines, should not be eligible for the cheaper gas.

The lawmaker also said taxis should not be eligible since “the people who use them are from the upper middle class.”

Romahurmiziy also warned the government to make sure that enough fuel was available throughout the areas surrounding Greater Jakarta, since residents living on the outskirts of the city would most certainly go to neighboring areas to buy cheaper gasoline. 

Rina: ‘It is unfair! The rule should address those who drive fancy cars. How many fancy cars are there in this town?’
Rudi: ‘My company pays for my transportation, so I do not think that I will have a problem with the new rule.’

Indonesia Pledges $34 Million to Rebuild Wasior by Early 2012

The Jakarta Globe

Nurfika Osman & Elisabeth Oktofani

Armida Alisjahbana, minister of national development planning, on Thursday predicted that all reconstruction and rehabilitation in Wasior, West Papua, would be completed by early 2012, pledging nearly Rp 304 billion ($34 million) to rebuild the region devastated by flash floods.


The floods overwhelmed the area in October, killing 161 people with 7,000 left homeless and 146 missing and presumed dead. The Teluk Wondama district administration in Wasior says those displaced will eventually be relocated to the Rasiei and Naikere districts in West Papua.

“We have recently begun discussing the implementation of our rehabilitation and reconstruction program, since completing an inventory of the damages and losses incurred as a result of flash floods in Wasior,” Armida said, suggesting that program activities would include the construction of temporary housing, basic infrastructure and restoring economic and social activity.

She added that the government had already finished building temporary housing and public kitchens, as well as supplying a source for clean water.

“We have finished building 99 temporary homes that are ready to be occupied,” Armida said, adding that further reconstruction activities would ideally begin by the middle of next year, including plans to permanently relocate over 7,000 people from Wasior to 1,500 newly built homes in Rasiei and Naikere by 2012.

“In the first six months of next year, we plan to draw out the full plans. The reconstruction work can only begin after everything is ready, which should be mid 2011,” Armida said. “We expect that all relocation activities will be completed by early 2012.”

The central bank has pledged to help out by providing credit facilities to disaster victims to help them rebuild.

Six foreign governments have agreed to contribute to a $30 million fund to help establish community empowerment programs in support of disaster-recovery efforts across Wasior, as well as the disaster-struck zones of Mentawai in West Sumatra and cities in close proximity to Mount Merapi, the World Bank said on Thursday.

Citra Lestari, a World Bank consultant speaking to the Jakarta Globe, named the contributing governments as Australia, the Netherlands, Denmark, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the European Union.

She said the fund would be managed by the National Community Empowerment Program (PNPM) .

The fund is intended to support community disaster recovery efforts and assist affected households in restoring their livelihoods, Citra said.

It would also pay for the timely provision of investment block grants, to help generate economic activity and employment, providing badly needed income for households, as well as fund “cash for work” initiatives under existing PNPM programs.

Magelang Scores High, Papua Low In Health Survey

The Jakarta Globe

Jakarta. Magelang in Central Java and Pegunungan Bintang in Papua have come out at the top and the bottom, respectively, in a survey ranking health care quality across the country.


The results of the Ministry of Health’s Community Health Development Index (IPKM) survey of 440 districts and municipalities, unveiled over the weekend, measured the quality of health care systems based on 24 criteria.

Trihono, from the Health Ministry’s Research and Development Board, said the indicators included the prevalence of mental disorders, access to clean water, the ratio of doctors to the general population and immunization rates.

He said that the purpose of the ministry’s survey was to help formulate intervention programs specifically tailored to the unique health issues facing each region.

The areas surveyed were given scores between 0 and 1, the latter denoting the highest possible rating.

The latest survey shows that Magelang in Central Java has the best health care quality with a score of 0.709.

Meanwhile, Pegunungan Bintang, in the mountainous range running through the center of Papua, has the worst health care quality with a score of 0.247.

“Of the 20 districts at the bottom of the ranking, 14 are located in eastern Indonesia, mostly in Papua province,” Trihono said.

According to Umar Fahmi Ahmadi, a public health expert from University of Indonesia, one of the main reasons many parts of the nation’s eastern reaches had weak health care systems was geographic inaccessibility.

“In these places, which are surrounded by difficult terrain, more money has to be spent on overhead such as transportation instead of health care systems,” Umar said.

Trihono said the government was planning to provide areas with low scores more intensive assistance, including experts to help them deal with some of the major problems they faced.

Purnawan Junaidi, another public health expert from University of Indonesia, said that a district’s wealth was not necessarily an indication of its health care quality.

“Yogyakarta is one example of a district that is not rich but has a good health care system,” Purnawan said. Yogyakarta’s score, 0.695, puts it in fourth place, just after Salatiga, also in Central Java.

According to Umar, the reason some of the poorer districts had better health care systems was because they did not have high levels of social and economic inequality.

“Let’s take South Jakarta as an example. South Jakarta is in a lower position than Magelang, Bantul or Madiun because it has a high level of inequality and a big gap between the rich and poor,” he said.

Magelang, Yogyakarta and Salatiga, he said, had more homogenous societies with larger middle classes.

Some Indonesian Officials and Sex Workers Say It’s Safer to Keep Prostitution Centralized

The Jakarta Globe

Indonesia. Although prostitution is technically illegal in Jakarta, it is common knowledge that it can easily be found throughout the capital. Some government officials and sex workers say the best way to keep prostitutes safe is to have them work in centralized areas where health guidelines can be enforced and monitored.


Officials from the National AIDS Prevention Commission (KPA) spent time on Saturday educating sex workers at a karaoke bar in West Jakarta’s Taman Sari subdistrict about the proper and necessary use of condoms.

Ajianto Dwi Nugroho, from the KPA, said that as the sex trade became more spread out, it grew much more difficult to monitor the health of sex workers and provide education about the risks of their profession.

“Local politicians have been known to order the shutdown of red-light areas during election campaigns. And they do get shut down,” Ajianto said on Sunday.

“But this is no solution to the problem of prostitution. What happens is that the sex workers simply move further underground.”

“They end up walking the streets, going to bus stands or food stalls to try to sell their bodies. Then they have no access to information on how to protect themselves. They receive no regular health checks, no sex education from NGOs or the government and, in the worst-case scenario, they become slaves to terrible pimps,” Ajianto said.

“Take Rawa Malang [a red-light district in North Jakarta]. The pimps there will ask their prostitutes to drink five bottles of beer a day, or even demand their girls pay them if they fail to secure a customer.”

But this is not always the case. Sex workers at the karaoke bar the KPA visited had good things to say about working conditions.

Weni, a 40-year-old prostitute, said all the sex workers at the bar were required to have a health check every three months, particularly to spot STDs.

“I feel lucky to work as a prostitute in such an organized and clean place as this. The club owners show us how to maintain our health. They even allow us to say no to customers if they do not want to use a condom,” she said.

“I cannot imagine how bad my health would be if I worked on the streets. I would not know about all the risks of prostitution.

“Everybody working here is like family. The prostitutes, the boss, the cleaning service guys, the waiters and even the regular customers are family. We respect each other and treat each other properly. It is because we understand completely what kinds of lives we actually live.”

Weni said the prostitutes working at the club did not see themselves as criminals.

“We do not steal, we do not rob. We sell our bodies voluntarily because we want to have better lives. We also do not harm others. We always play safe by staying healthy.”

Tari, an 18-year-old sex worker at the bar, said one of her initial customers had been violent, particularly after she refused to have sex without a condom.

“I was slapped and hit hard by my customer. It was crazy. But, I think Rp 100,000 [$11] is not worth taking such a dangerous health risk,” she said.

The club charges as much as Rp 225,000 per client, which covers an hour of “massage services” in a room. Of this, the woman earns Rp 100,000, not including tips, said Leha, a 32-year-old prostitute.

Jakarta’s Migrant Workers Sweat to Make Rupiah Stretch

The Jakarta Globe

Jakarta. Among the millions of who flock to Jakarta in search of jobs each year, many will tell you they can subsist on minimum wage, but it’s unlikely to be any fun.


People living on slightly above or below the monthly minimum wage — to be raised to Rp 1.29 million ($143) in 2011 — have their work cut out for them.

For photographer Sugiharto, making ends meet on just Rp 1.4 million a month is a challenge.

The 35-year-old father of two, married to a public school teacher in Bekasi, said he had been trying to use his networking skills to land photography jobs, selling personalized services for customers and corporations.

Though his wife earns Rp 800,000 a month, Sugiharto says their combined income is barely sufficient.

“It’s never enough if you live in Jakarta,” he said. “We have a list of bills to pay which we struggle to meet.”

Sugiharto says his firstborn’s monthly school fees are Rp 160,000, the family’s electricity bill runs up to Rp 250,000, and around Rp 600,000 goes toward transportation. “So if I don’t look for extra income, how can I support my family properly?”

Budi Hartono, 26, who works for a cleaning service, says he continually racks up debts just to be able to support his family.

“I trust my wife to manage my monthly salary. It’s not much, just Rp 980,000. Even though we have no children, my monthly salary isn’t enough,” he said, adding his debts made him uneasy. “Early in the month, I always try to pay off my debts slowly. Only then can I think of buying luxuries like chicken, meat or fish. And all of that is just [for] the first week of the month.”

Tutut, 23, who works at a juice counter at the Plaza Semanggi mall, says she earns Rp 1.05 million a month, with half of it going to her parents and the remainder spent on commutes.

She says she looks forward to Idul Fitri, when she gets her bonus and can buy new clothes.

“It’s nothing fancy, but it’s the only time I can finally treat myself to something special,” Tutut said. “I can’t really do much with my salary as it is.

“It might not be fun to live on a small salary, but I’m so grateful to have a job and help my family,” she added.

“I just hope that when my salary increases, the living costs don’t increase as well, so I can manage my life better.”

Pretty Face Secret to Success in Indonesian Broadcast News

The Jakarta Globe

Jakarta. The media is a powerful force in forming public opinion, but all too often, that power is used in a way that reinforces the exploitation of women for profit, analysts, activists and professionals working in the industry say.


Women working both in front of the camera and behind it are often judged based on standards of physical beauty.

In visual media, Indonesian female journalists are almost always conventionally attractive, with light skin, trim figures and long hair.

Experts say this ideal of feminine perfection represents a skewed image of reality.

“In our daily life, when was the last time you saw a woman of great physical beauty walk elegantly to a busway stop, as what some audio-visual advertisements show?” says Mariana Amiruddin, editor in chief of Jurnal Perempuan, a women’s rights magazine.

“A few years ago, there was so much critical writing about beauty advertising in media. But unfortunately, nowadays it seems that the beauty myth in advertising has instead spread out and influenced the journalism world.”

And some female journalists back her claim, saying that physical beauty, not talent, is the essential element for a successful onscreen career.

Luviana, a news producer with private broadcaster Metro TV, says many female journalists are not allowed to present their own news reports because they do not have a “camera face.”

“There are many television companies which will only hire female news anchors who have won a beauty contest or used to be models,” she says.

“The reason why television companies hire female anchors is based on the myth of beauty. They believe it helps them earn more profits. Other than that, many male sources, from the police or at the parliament for example, would much rather be interviewed by a good-looking female journalist,” Luviana adds.

Chantal Della Concetta, a former news anchor for RCTI, is diplomatic about the industry’s preference for beauty.

“It doesn’t mean that physical beauty is the only requirement for a news anchor. Keep in mind that inner beauty is a must for a news anchor. We have to be smart to ask questions and analyze the current issues,” Chantal says.

Many viewers, however, look past a pretty face in their search for substantive news.

“I do not like to watch a news anchor who appears too arrogant when interviewing their source, either ordinary people, actresses or actors or a member of the House,” says Faozan Latief, a television viewer in Jakarta.

“Yes, they might be pretty. But what do we need after all if we are watching a news program? To watch the anchor or get the news?” he says.

Iswandi Syahputra, a media analyst and member of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), explains that in the broadcast and television sector, many women working as news anchors, actresses or advertising models welcome the chance to be judged on the basis of their looks, believing that any resulting popularity is a path to economic success.

But beyond those working in the media sector, experts say women are often exploited for the sake of producing sensational — and popular — news stories.

Neng Dara Afifah, a senior member of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), says there are many blatant cases of unethical newspapers and TV programs churning out stories about sexually abused women.

“When it comes to sexual abuse, women as the victims are always exposed, but what about the perpetrators?” Neng says.

She says media companies, which sensationalize what should be private cases, are actually guilty of “sexual violence” against the victims.

Since January, Komnas Perempuan has recorded 151 news reports of sexual violence against women.

Meanwhile, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and Komnas Perempuan are urging journalists to apply the Indonesian journalists’ code of ethics, in particular articles 4,5 and 8.

“Those three articles focus on gender perspective, requiring journalists to show sympathy to the victims of sexual abuse in their reporting,” says Rach Alida Bahaweres, coordinator of the women’s division at AJI.

Drug Distribution Better Regulated to Fight Fakes

The Jakarta Globe

Jakarta. The national drug administration has announced a new campaign to control the distribution of medicine and stem the circulation of counterfeit drugs.


Lucky S. Slamet, deputy director of the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), said on Monday that of the approximately 7,500 medicines in current circulation in the Indonesian market, counterfeiters were producing copies of up to 20 of the more popular ones.

He said these included “lifestyle medicines” such as Viagra, as well as life-saving drugs such as the antimalarial Fansidar.

“Those products sell very well,” he said. “The counterfeiters make a lot of money, but they overlook the health impact.”

To deal with the issue, he said, the BPOM had set up the National Single Point of Contact, a post within the agency that would be responsible for the national circulation of medicine.

“Besides establishing the SPOC, we’re also campaigning through the media for greater public awareness about counterfeit medicines,” he said.

“We lack the manpower to campaign directly to the public, so we need help from NGOs and the media to run campaigns on how to identify counterfeit medicine. However, it’s possible some people might not be able to make the distinction.”

He added in this case, people should only purchase medicine at authorized places, such as pharmacies or hospitals.

“This is the easiest way to avoid purchasing counterfeit medicine,” Lucky said.

The Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI) says the lost revenue from counterfeit drugs amounts to Rp 2.5 trillion ($280 million) annually.

Tulus Abadi, a YLKI official, said the high cost of patented drugs had provided the opportunity for counterfeiters to flourish with much cheaper knockoffs.

“The government doesn’t provide medicine for free, so when it comes to buying them, most patients opt for the cheaper alternative, which can turn out to be counterfeit,” he said, adding the term “counterfeit” did not necessarily mean a drug had no medicinal properties whatsoever.

“It can be just as potent as the original, albeit imported and distributed illegally,” Tulus said.

Meanwhile, Slamet Budiarto, secretary general of the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI), accused the government of putting the interests of the legitimate producers above those of consumers in this issue.

He said this was apparent in the Health Ministry’s definition of counterfeit drugs, which makes no mention of harmful ingredients. “It’s fine as long as there aren’t any harmful ingredients in the drugs, but what if there are such ingredients, which can delay the healing process or even cause death?” he said.

He added there was also no official data on deaths caused by the use of counterfeit medicine in the country.

Puspo Sumadi, country manager for US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, called for harsher punishment for drug counterfeiters.

“I hope the government changes the laws dealing with drug counterfeiters, because in addition to threatening lives, they also cause losses to the state,” he said.

According to World Health Organization statistics, 10 percent of medicines sold worldwide are fake; while in Indonesia, that figure is closer to 25 percent, as stated in a US Trade Representative report.

The WHO also estimates some 200,000 people die worldwide every year because of the problem.