After a teacher was convicted of raping 13 girls, Indonesia finally passed sexual violence reform
Indonesian teacher Herry Wirawan is escorted prior to his trial at a court in Bandung, West Java on Feb. 15, 2022. In April, he was sentenced to death for the rape of at least 13 students, all minors.Like many of its Southeast Asian neighbors, Indonesia keeps the death penalty in law with the belief that it is an effective deterrent for crimes and it brings resolution to cases like Wirawan’s.
“A lot of people say: ‘OK, you got justice because this guy is being punished by the death penalty or capital punishment,’” Restuviani tells TIME. “But unfortunately, within the current Indonesian law, there is no policy that says that, ‘Hey, you need to also kind of contribute to helping the victims of sexual violence.’ Specifically with the Herry Wirawan case, it is such a gruesome and also horrible case with multiple victims who are children.
Restuviani adds that the new law would only cover those who report the accusation to police. That’s a barrier for many, she says, because many in Indonesian law enforcement do not have adequate training on handling sexual violence cases. “A lot of victims and survivors, they just want access to free mental health counseling or free safe houses and free protections from the perpetrators,” Restuviani says.
But Pawestri, the anti-sexual violence activist, says having an umbrella law dealing with sexual violence will push women’s rights organizations, companies, and other institutions to implement protocols providing new layers of protection for women—including training for teachers on school campuses. Pawestri also says she hopes that religious conservatives in Indonesia will see that the bill is not meant to interfere with Islamic teachings in Indonesia. “We will not punish morality here,” she says. “What we punish is the violence.”
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