The Public Must Strictly Guard The Process At The MKD Regarding Allegations Of Sexual Harassment And Domestic Violence For Members Of The DPR

Photo by Dino Januarsa on Unsplash

JAKARTA - The DPR's efforts through the Honorary Council of the Council (MKD) to investigate cases of alleged sexual harassment and domestic violence (KDRT) of its members should be carried out to show partiality to women.

"What the MKD has done is right. Anyone who is later proven to have sexually assaulted, in any form, including sexual violence in verbal form, must be followed up according to applicable procedures and laws," said Female Activist from Sarinah Institute, Luky Sandra Amalia in her statement, Wednesday, June 21.

As is known, the DPR MKD is investigating a complaint about alleged sexual harassment by one of the members of the council, namely Sugeng Suparwoto. He was reported to MKD by a woman with the initials AAFS because he was considered to have sexually abused her verbal when the reporter was still a member of the DPR.

MKD is conducting an in-depth investigation regarding the results of the investigation that has been carried out on Sugeng as the reported party and AAFS as the reporter. In addition to filing a complaint with MKD, AAFS also reported Sugeng to the police.

"Luckily we already have a Law on the Crime of Sexual Violence (UU TPKS) so that the legal basis becomes stronger. Law enforcement officials can work according to their portion and MKD can follow up on complaints according to standard procedures owned by the DPR," said Amalia.

The researcher at the Political Research Center of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) hopes that MKD will immediately make a decision regarding the alleged sexual harassment case. Moreover, said Amalia, the public was also recently surprised by the case of domestic violence committed by a member of the DPR to his wife.

"After previously we heard of cases of domestic violence (KDRT) which was also carried out by an unscrupulous member of the Council, now we are again hearing cases of sexual violence perpetrated by another person in the DPR," said the PhD student at the University of Sydney.

"This means that sexual violence can indeed occur anywhere and be experienced by anyone, including in the honorable people's representative institution," continued Amalia.

Before investigating cases of verbal sexual harassment, the DPR MKD was known to handle reports of alleged domestic violence committed by Bukhori Yusuf. However, the MKD did not continue the report process because Bukhori Yusuf resigned from his party so that his position in the DPR was replaced by other cadres, which means he is no longer a member of the council.

The DPR MKD's move to process such complaints also received a lot of support. Given, according to Amalia, MKD has a role to play in restoring the honor of the DPR which has been tarnished due to cases of violence against women.

"Following up on the responsive DPR, in addition to showing that the DPR has an alignment with women as victims of sexual violence, this also shows that the DPR seriously enforces the laws it has produced itself," he said.

"This is a good example for the general public that the state is here to protect victims of sexual violence and follow up on reports of victim witnesses, whoever the perpetrators are," added Amalia.

The public was also asked to oversee the alleged sexual harassment case which is being followed up by the DPR MKD. Amalia said that the efforts made by the MKD would have an impact on public trust in the DPR as a people's representative institution.

"Let's support the good steps taken by the MKD to enforce the work environment of the honorable people's representative institutions free from all forms of violence," said the author of the book 'Evaluation of the Direct Presidential Election in Indonesia'.

Amalia said the work environment should be a safe space for all those in it, including female workers. He also assessed that the presence of the TPKS Law as a legal umbrella when cases of sexual violence occur, including in the work environment, should be further strengthened by the presence of the Maternal and Child Welfare Law (UU KIA).

Currently, the KIA Bill, which is an initiative of the DPR, is still in the process of being discussed. Many parties support that the KIA Bill will soon be ratified by the DPR because it will increase protection for mothers and women, as well as children.

"This law guarantees security and well-being for women who work and children who are under his care," concluded Amalia.