Komnas Perempuan Data: Violence Against Women Soared 68 Percent During The COVID-19 Pandemic

JAKARTA - Based on data compiled by the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) found cases of violence against women soared during the COVID-19 pandemic. "In 2020 Komnas Perempuan received more than 2,300 direct complaints of violence, an increase of 68 percent compared to in 2019, namely 1,419," said Komnas Perempuan Chair Andy Yentriyani at an online discussion with the theme strengthening the direction of policies and strategies for eliminating violence against women in 2022 which was monitored in Jakarta, reported by Antara, Tuesday, August 24. If you look at the data for the last five years, the average Complaints also increased quite significantly, namely around 14 percent. Even more surprising, in the first semester of 2021, the number of direct reports to Komnas Perempuan exceeded the number of complaints in 2020, which was 2,500 cases. Meanwhile, cases of domestic violence are still the majority of complaints submitted to Komnas Perempuan. In addition, the institution also found violence against women in the context of development, natural resource management to the criminalization of women human rights defenders.

In general, the COVID-19 pandemic situation has contributed to an increase in the workload for women. The increasing tension in the family, especially the loss of a job due to the pandemic, has become one of the indicators of complaints during the pandemic. However, the increasing number of reports to Komnas Perempuan also indicates the courage of victims to report their cases. and the community," she said. Unfortunately, the response capacity is still limited, plus the pandemic situation has worsened the existing conditions. For example, at the regional level Komnas Perempuan has just conducted a study of 414 regional policies for integrated handling of women victims of violence. than seven percent who ensure free visas, less than 30 percent have safe house assurance and recovery services, and only 10 percent have affirmation policies on women's special conditions with layered discrimination.