Puan Maharani: Indonesian Emergency Domestic Violence, Handling Priority

Puan Maharani. (Instagram @puanmaharani)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, highlighted cases of domestic violence (KDRT) that have recently occurred in Indonesia. He also encouraged law enforcement to prioritize reports related to domestic violence and process them firmly and fairly.

The case of domestic violence in Indonesia is currently quite an emergency. Strict and fair action is needed from law enforcement on the handling of domestic violence cases," said Puan, Thursday (25/5/2023).

Recently, the community was shocked by the case of domestic violence involving a representative of the people where the former member of the Indonesian House of Representatives was suspected of molesting his second wife, who was pregnant, causing bleeding.

In addition, there are also allegations that domestic violence was carried out by an unscrupulous lecturer at a state university in Solo against his wife. The lecturer allegedly narrowed his wife with a door while on campus.

Recently, a wife in Depok, West Java, who was actually named a suspect despite being a victim of her husband's violence. The woman was abused by doused with chili bon, her head collided against the wall, and her hair was grabbed.

When reporting the domestic violence to the police, the victim was instead named a suspect and detained on the back of her husband. Puan hopes that an incident like this will not happen again.

"This case is a bad precedent because of the lack of sensitivity to the protection of women. Talking about justice must also consider various factors so as not to create false justice," said the first woman who served as Chair of the DPR RI.

Puan Maharani also asked the Government to pay special attention to handling domestic violence cases. Moreover, based on data from the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (KemenPPPA), there were 3,173 domestic violence cases from January 1, 2022, to February 14, 2023.

Meanwhile, Komnas Perempuan recorded 457,895 cases of violence against women that occurred in Indonesia throughout 2022, including incidents of domestic violence.

"From various information, many victims felt that they were not taken seriously when reporting the domestic violence they experienced. Not a few were actually named suspects. What's wrong here?" said Puan.

The former Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture said that the lack of socialization and education regarding the handling of domestic violence cases made it difficult for victims when they wanted to report what happened. Puan also assessed that many victims were afraid when they wanted to report because they lacked information.

"The government must take more approaches and assistance through ministries/agencies so that domestic violence victims can speak up," he explained.

In the description of Kemen-PPPA, women are more prone to domestic violence than men. The risk of women experiencing domestic violence from their partners is 1.34 times greater than men with their partners. Women whose husbands have other partners also have a greater risk of becoming victims of physical and sexual violence.

Meanwhile, the handling of domestic violence cases is regulated in Law Number 23 of 2004 concerning the Elimination of Domestic Violence. The lack of maximum application of legal sanctions in domestic violence is considered to be one of the reasons for the large number of domestic violence.

"Not to mention there are social problems where victims think about the fate of their families or children if they report. This must be our common concern," said Puan.

"There is a need for cooperation from various stakeholders to help domestic violence victims feel supported and protected. Not only from law enforcers, the government and the DPR, but also from NGOs and religious figures," added Bung Karno's grandson.

Puan added that the domestic violence case can also be avoided through strengthening understanding about the life of a married couple to each husband/wife-to-be. Before getting married, a husband/wife-to-be couple should indeed be given provision about a good family life.

The provision and guidance for couples who want to get married must be further encouraged. Not only from a religious perspective, but also from all sectors. Both health, to psychological and mental candidates for partners," said Puan.

"Hopefully the future wife/husband will get to know his partner even better before getting married. Good debriefing is also expected to avoid domestic violence cases when the couple is married," concluded Puan Maharani.