Sexual Violence Cases: The Victim Gets the Bad Luck

Sexual Violence Cases, Victims Who Get the Short End of the Stick

The Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) stated that the number of sexual violence cases across Indonesia in 2020 increased compared with the previous two years. The increase in sexual violence cases amounted to more than 100 in a single year.

"Originally, there were 401 cases of sexual violence in 2018. It increased by about 100 cases in 2019 to 507 cases," said Livia Iskandar, Deputy Chair of the Witness and Victim Protection Agency, in an online discussion on Wednesday, 8 July 2020, as reported by medcom.id. She broke down the number of sexual violence cases by sex: 134 males, consisting of 77 adults and 57 children. There were also 373 females, consisting of 199 adults and 174 children.

Moreover, according to her, these cases do not yet cover the total number of sexual violence cases in Indonesia. This is due to victims' fear of reporting to the authorities and victims who face legal difficulties.

Indonesia now has a legal framework that deals with sexual violence cases. The TPKS Bill treats victims as subjects who must receive protection and whose legal rights must be respected. The TPKS Bill can also reduce the culture of victim blaming against victims of sexual violence, especially female victims. Victim blaming is the act of blaming the victim and regarding the victim as the party most responsible for the violence they experienced

According to the Survey on Sexual Harassment in Public Spaces conducted nationally at the end of 2018 during the 16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Women (HAKTP), the majority of victims of harassment were not wearing revealing clothes when they experienced sexual harassment, but were wearing long trousers/skirts (18%), a hijab (17%), and long-sleeved clothes (16%). The survey results also showed that most harassment occurred during the daytime (35%) and in the afternoon (25%), contrary to the widely believed myth that sexual harassment happens because the victim is outside the house at night.

The survey proves that the current social stigma, which still holds that sexual violence occurs because the victim provoked the perpetrator into committing a crime, is a grave mistake. Sexual violence does not happen because of the victim's wishes, but purely, 100%, because of the perpetrator's depraved mind.

The culture of victim blaming is also one of the reasons victims are afraid to report to the authorities. An attitude that questions what kind of clothing the victim was wearing shows that the victim is seen as having provoked the sexual violence that happened to them. That attitude can also make victims feel judged and distressed, and then blame themselves for the harassment they experienced. As a result, this actually protects the perpetrator more than the victim, and the perpetrator has the potential to escape sanctions when he uses a similar excuse, namely claiming that the victim's clothing “invited” him to commit sexual violence.

So, given all the facts, whatever clothing is worn, if the perpetrator makes the victim's body a sexual object, sexual violence still occurs. This is because such a perspective removes the perpetrator's respect for human beings, and when committing the act the perpetrator no longer cares what kind of clothing the victim is wearing.

Victims of sexual violence should not be blamed for crimes committed by other people. In this case, what must be regulated and controlled is not the clothing worn by the victim, but the thoughts and perspective of the perpetrator. Whatever clothing is worn has absolutely no correlation with the chance of becoming a target of sexual violence. Clothing also plays no role in preventing or increasing the likelihood of sexual violence.

Cases of sexual violence are experienced more often by women. In Indonesia, the habit of blaming victims is strongly influenced by patriarchal culture, an ideology that recognises unequal relations between women and men. In patriarchal culture, the position of men is more dominant and more influential, while women are positioned as subordinates. As a result, men demand women's respect and obedience in various aspects of life.

The media plays a dual role in cases of sexual violence. On the one hand, the media is the main source of information for the public to learn about violence against women, and it is also a means of educating the public in responding to sexual violence. The media can also provide space for survivors' voices to be heard

On the other hand, media coverage can also worsen the culture of blaming victims. This may happen because the media tends to portray women as weak figures, rather than as survivors who can fight to seek justice after being raped. The media also tends to blame women in its coverage of sexual violence.

A community environment that perpetuates the patriarchal system also reinforces rape culture, which likewise encourages victim blaming. Rape culture is defined as an environment that tolerates rape and sexual violence. This rape culture is sustained through the use of language that demeans women, by commenting on women's bodies or by using sexual jokes and even rape cases as material for jokes.

Joking about rape ignores the fact that many survivors must deal with physical and emotional wounds at the same time, because after the incident they are also blamed or made the object of mockery by the people around them. Whether we realise it or not, this habit builds a society that disregards women's rights and safety.

A study on sexual assaults against people of Chinese descent during Indonesia's political transition in May 1998 by Susan Blackburn of Monash University, Australia, highlights the role of the media in spreading victim blaming. Susan's findings show that media reports in Indonesia often corner women in cases of violence against women by saying that rape can happen because the woman concerned provoked the rapist's sexual desire with “provocative” and “sensual” clothing. Victim blaming in a patriarchal society has caused survivors of sexual violence to suffer doubly: they are harassed and then blamed. This will make survivors feel unsafe about sharing their stories with others.

Victim blaming and rape culture are problems that are deeply rooted in Indonesian society. To fight them, we must always support survivors, not only when a case provokes a public reaction but at all times. We also need to change our perspective on the problem of rape, starting by respecting whatever kind of clothing they wear.

Stop protecting perpetrators of sexual violence with the excuse that “there is no smoke without fire”. Stop making statements that judge and corner victims. Instead of building negative assumptions about victims and pushing them further down, and unwittingly seeming to support the perpetrator's actions, it is time for society to take a stand and choose to stand together with the victims. Fight sexual violence!

Harian Momentum e-paper link: http://m.harianmomentum.com/read/36614/harian-momentum-edisi-23-september-2021

https://harianmomentum.com/images/media/e4992ccbfc0481fd029e10540a5f9032.JPG