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

For domestic violence cases, the settlement process often only prioritizes legal aspects and marginalizes justice for victims. Law enforcement officers will only see the criminal element in handling a case. If it is fulfilled, then it will immediately be processed. It is not uncommon for officers to be unable to distinguish between victims and perpetrators. The good faith of victims to report their cases was not very welcomed. For example, victims are given a lot of burdens to fulfill the normative elements in criminal offenses and do not receive adequate assistance and information about legal matters.

“In our current procedural law, so far victims are always asked to prove their case, for example looking for witnesses, evidence and so on. It means that they are already a victim but they must prove it. I mean, the victim is already traumatized,” Tuani said.

Also read: Two Foreigners Get Death Sentences for Violating Indonesia’s Narcotics Law

As a result, many victims become discouraged when they want to fight for their rights through the legal process. Added to this is the stigma from the family to the victim, such as being accused of being against her husband and spreading disgrace due to domestic disputes. Because of this, victims often stop the ongoing legal process even though it is already in court.

"Speaking of the legal process, it is not easy. Many domestic violence cases take two to three years to finalize and the victims become weary of it. There are some—even a lot of—cases that are suddenly dismissed after those long waits that we had to file another legal action. File a pre-trial so that the case could be reopened,” said Tuani.

Based on data from LBH APIK Jakarta in 2019, the most reported cases were related to domestic violence. There were 249 cases. However, of that number, only 15 cases were then reported to the police. Also, most victims of psychological violence do not report their cases. The reason was that the victim was unable to pay one of the prerequisites, namely post mortem psychiatricum. 

The success of a legal process is also largely determined by the quality of understanding and response of law enforcement officers in handling legal cases and protecting victims, including female victims, following the mandate of laws and regulations.

However, the most perceived obstacle at this time is the lack of a common gender-responsive perception among law enforcement officers regarding the evidence of complex cases of violence, protection mechanisms for witnesses and victims, and coordination in the fulfillment of victims' rights. This also results in a lack of response to victims who are traumatized by the violence itself.

"Our law enforcement officers' perspective equates perpetrators to the victims. They should be able to be more empathetic when interviewing victims,” Tuani said of her experience.

"And the cases of women and children are also not cases that generate a lot of money, unlike drug or narcotics cases. Especially cases of girls that cannot be exposed, so in practice officers are often a bit reluctant to handle it.”