Anti-Domestic Violence Law in Indonesia: Boon or Bane?

Forms of domestic violence

Public attorney in legal aid LBH APIK Jakarta, Tuani Marpaung, explained that the forms of domestic violence are divided into several categories such as physical violence, psychological violence, and violent economic neglect.

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Citing an example, Tuani said that physical violence is an act that causes cuts or bruises or other physical injuries such as being hit, punched, grabbed, and leaving scars. Meanwhile, psychological violence includes degrading dignity, making people depressed, such as not being given the right to do something and being deprived of their independence as a partner. And violent economic neglect turns out to be very common in Indonesia, where a person is not supported financially, left without clarity, and others.

“There is no minimum and maximum limit for economic neglect. For example, today he gave 100,000 Indonesian rupiahs ($7) to be managed for two months. It is not necessarily economic neglect because there are no set rules. There is no minimum, so often cases of economic neglect are difficult to process,” explained Tuani.

Novi was not alone. Almost one-third of women aged 15-49 years who have been in a relationship report to the World Health Organization (WHO) that they have been subjected to some form of physical and/or sexual violence by their intimate partner.

This type of violence is often raised and found in many soap operas that air at nine o'clock at night on television, but people do not expect to experience it in real life. Worse still, domestic violence with the perpetrator being family or partner is considered a private matter, and what happens in it is not someone else's business, so many victims do not feel the need to report the case, even when similar cases have been experienced repeatedly.

Meeting with Novi

When I visited Novi’s house in West Bekasi, she smiled as she invited me in. Located on the side of the road, it absolutely could not be judged safe from any aspect for a person who has an active toddler. Her son, Jaki as he was nicknamed, gave me the look as if he had seen me somewhere.

The walls were almost plain as in there were no photos or any ornaments displayed. There was only a wall clock his employer had given her, hanging in the middle of the wall. It was 11 am. Novi invited me to sit down while she went to her room for a while. Accompanying me, Jaki, who stood some distance away, hiding half of his body behind the bedroom door.

There was one area in her house which until now she has not been able to go to. Even looking at it, Novi would prefer to turn around. It was the corner of the only bedroom, more precisely at the angle perpendicular to the door bolt. It was the place where Badu lost control of his sanity after drinking alcohol.

"A friend told me that I could report it, it's just… I was afraid. If I were to report, it would not necessarily be processed. If it were to be processed, it would not turn out necessarily fair,” said Novi.

"Besides, I used to hurt myself when I stressed. I think if I were to do visum [post mortem report]—I think that’s what you call it—that could be an advantage for Badu not to confess."

At the end of my meeting with Novi, she gave me Badu’s numbers. I immediately contacted him that same afternoon, and surprisingly, he read it right away. But, he blocked my number soon after my long message was sent.

Legal process