Men Also Support The TPKS Bill And Participate In The Audience, Puan Maharani Gives Appreciation

JAKARTA - Among the women activists who attended the meeting with the Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, last Wednesday, January 11, two young men clad in their alma mater jackets sat listening. Mika Simon Sibarani who was present with a colleague from the Student Executive Board (BEM) of Diponegoro University also had the opportunity to express his opinion on the Draft Law on Sexual Violence (RUU TPKS).

“Sexual violence cases continue to escalate in the community, including on campus. So we really support and fully appreciate the TPKS Bill which is the DPR Initiative Bill because we need the TPKS Bill to create a safe space free of sexual violence. We support openness and community involvement in the discussion of the TPKS Bill, said Mika.

The presence of the two youths at the hearing with the women activists got Puan's attention. "It would be great if all, including men, were also concerned about the TPKS Bill, because this is actually not only a women and children problem, but a national problem," said Puan Maharani in a written statement submitted to the VOI Editor.

Mika is certainly not the only man who is concerned about the dynamics that occur in the course of the TPKS Bill. There are many men who also support the ratification of the TPKS Bill because the issue of sexual violence can also be experienced by men. According to Komnas Perempuan's records, 1 in 10 men are victims of sexual violence.

In a hearing with the Legislative Body (Baleg) of the DPR in February 2021, the Executive Director of the Indonesia Judicial Research Society (IJRS) Dio Ashar once presented the results of a quantitative study conducted by his organization and the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID) which reported 33, 3 percent of men have experienced sexual violence.

Although there are not as many cases of sexual violence against women, which account for more than 66%, the number becomes very significant when referring to the perspective of Human Rights (HAM) that one victim of violence is too many.

Usman Hamid, Executive Director of Amnesty International Indonesia, also expressed appreciation for Puan's statement that she would soon ratify the TPKS Bill as a DPR Initiative Bill. "I appreciate the steps taken by the chairman of the DPR if next week she stipulates this bill as a priority initiative proposal and will immediately be ratified," said Usman.

According to him, many people in the community are already in a state of sexual violence emergency. Usman said that Friday, January 14, he had just arrived from a road trip out of town to help a woman who had just experienced violence by her husband. "It's pretty bad. Not just ordinary physical violence, or verbal and mental violence. But almost everything, including sexual violence. The wife is also separated from the daughter who is now being taken by her husband without any clarity on the fate of the child and the location of her whereabouts. We have reported it to the police, the West Java Regional Police, and the Criminal Investigation Unit, hopefully, there will be legal action. A month ago I helped a mother whose child was a victim of sexual violence in a boarding school,” he said.

A Year Delayed

The condition that Indonesia is experiencing an emergency condition of sexual violence and therefore the TPKS Bill becomes an urgency to be ratified immediately was also conveyed by an equality and diversity activist who is also an academic from the Department of Political Science, FISIP UI, Nur Iman Subono. He firmly said that he supports the hastening of the ratification of the TPKS Bill. "Moreover, this urgent bill has been delayed for more than a year," he said.

According to him, although the priority and focus of handling sexual violence currently tend to be more focused on women, in fact, the victims and perpetrators can be anyone. "So it's clear, this bill is actually for the benefit of the people," he said.

Politician Budiman Sudjatmiko also conveyed the same thing regarding the development of this TPKS Bill. “In my opinion, what the Speaker of the House of Representatives said is correct, that this TPKS Bill should be rushed. Sexual violence that occurs which is usually caused by unequal power relations is vulnerable to occur in any institution. Secular, religious, civil, military, even family. Moreover, cases of violence are generally like an iceberg. What appears on the surface is only a small part, while other cases, which are much more numerous, are buried under the surface,” he said.

Budiman and Usman also reminded that it is necessary to pay attention to and protect the interests of victims in every case of violence that occurs. According to Usman, the protection of victims is also the reason for the need for the TPKS Bill to be ratified immediately. “For too long the suffering of our society has gone on without state protection in cases of sexual violence. This bill is intended to provide a legal basis for the public to obtain state protection. This is because the prosecution and prevention of this type of crime have not been regulated in other laws. Even though it is very important for the protection of human rights, both through punishing the perpetrators and protection based on the principle of preventing the occurrence of sexual violence, as well as restoring and fulfilling the rights of victims that have not been regulated in other laws," said Usman.

Both Nur Iman, Usman, and Budiman also rejected the opinion of a few groups who opposed this TPKS Bill. “There are no articles in the TPKS Bill that can be considered pro-adultery and so on. This bill specifically or lex specialist deals with sexual violence and focuses on protecting victims, punishing and rehabilitating perpetrators so that violence does not happen again. Victims have fallen and the victims can be anyone, across age, class, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, and location. Therefore, this bill must be guarded together until it becomes a law," he said. He also cites the perspective of Human Rights, which views that one victim who falls due to a violent case is more than enough. "The rest are just numbers. We must have zero-tolerance for cases of sexual violence,” Nur Iman emphasized.

“Those who oppose must not understand the essence of the crime of sexual violence and why the absence of consent in sexual relations is a crime. Even in marriage, sexual intercourse with coercion is clearly a crime, namely rape in a marital relationship. If they use religious issues to reject this bill, it is very wrong because religious teachings also prohibit sexual violence. International law also prohibits sexual violence, even certain types of sexual violence can be considered as gross violations of human rights. The criminal law on adultery and morality regulated by other laws is very problematic and must be corrected. This bill is only part of an effort to improve the state protection system for all of us, without exception, including our children and grandchildren,” said Usman.

In line with the two opinions, Budiman also rejected the opinions of a handful of these groups. “Don't let the insidiousness of a handful of groups who misunderstand or misunderstand the TPKS Bill influence the idea of ​​the urgency to provide a safe space for humanity. This minor voice from a few people should not even thwart the expression and needs of many people," he said.