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Speed Up Passage of Anti-Sexual Violence Bill: Indonesia's President Aide

Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko called for immediate passage of the anti-sexual violence bill or known as PKS, as the number of sexual violence keeps increasing in Indonesia.

“The escalation of sexual violence continues to increase and the forms of violence are increasingly becoming more complex. The bill must be passed immediately,” said Moeldoko after a kickoff meeting held by the Task Force for the Acceleration of the Formation of the Anti-Sexual Violence Law at the Bina Graha Building, Jakarta, Monday, June 21.

Moeldoko, who is also part of the committee, said that based on the previous cases of sexual violence, especially against women, the existing regulations were not sufficient to accommodate various forms of sexual violence and the rights of victims.

"The PKS bill provides comprehensive handling of prevention, case handling, protection and recovery of victims," Moeldoko said.

The chairman of the Task Force for the Acceleration of the Formation of the PKS Law, Eddy Hiariej, said the substance of the bill needed to be further discussed with the working committee of the House of Representatives so it would not overlap with other laws and regulations.

"We need to resolve the issue of its substance. It must be re-examined along with the Prosecutor and the Police as part of law enforcement," said Eddy.

In its 2020 report, the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) pointed out that the number of violence against women throughout 2019 reached 431,471 cases or up six percent from 406,178 in the previous year.

The PKS Bill assures, among others, victims of sexual violence will be free from criminalization. However, the bill still sits on this year’s national legislation program (Prolegnas) priority list since it was first initiated by Komnas Perempuan in 2012 and has been postponed several times.

Source: https://go.kompas.com/read/2021/06/22/174152974/speed-up-passage-of-anti-sexual-violence-bill-indonesias-president-aide.