Amara Farah Tahar

Sexual Violence Towards Women and Girls: The Result of a Systemic Gender Inequality and the Deep-Rooted Patriarchal Upbringing of Our Society

Amara Farah Tahar

Sexual violence has been recognized as an increasingly alarming public health and social issue that women and children everywhere throughout the globe face. Estimates published by World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that globally about 1 in 3 of women worldwide have been subjected to either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. Although I fully acknowledge that sexual violence can happen regardless of gender, in this essay I will be focusing on the topic of sexual violence specifically towards women and girls as the result of a systemic gender inequality and the deep-rooted patriarchal upbringing of our society, which in turn fosters a culture of sexual victimization and perpetrator exoneration.

Firstly, it is absolutely vital for us to face the truth that violence perpetrated against women is and always will be a political matter. Although sexual violence can also affect men, in most societies the victims are usually women and the aggressors are usually men (Khan 1998). The United Nations defines violence against women as "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life." The perpetrators may be partners, parents, relatives, neighbors and men in positions of power or influence. The most important social dynamic influencing sexual violence is the extent of subordination of women within a society (Seedat et al 2009). Sexual violence results in women enduring unfavorable treatment and experiencing prolonged trauma due to acts done by men as superior figures and holders of power in society, both economically and politically as well.

A nationwide survey conducted by Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) and commissioned by T (KPPPA) found that 1 in 3 Indonesian women suffered sexual violence in their lifetime. In 2021 itself, it is recorded that as many as 8,800 cases of sexual violence occurred from January to November. Sexual violence cases are also rampantly happening in educational institutions, such as universities and even religious boarding schools. In addition to that, the rise of advanced technology has also taken part in how sexual violence transformed itself into a more contemporary form. The phenomenon of technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV) is an increasing form of sexual violence where online technology is used as a medium to blackmail, coerce or harass another person. In this case, women and girls are the main targets of online digital sexualized violence.

The most common form of TFSV is the non-consensual distribution of

Revenge pornography involves the distribution or threat of distribution of an explicit image as a means of intimidating, silencing or otherwise extending power and control over victims (Henry and Powell, 2015). In Indonesia itself, revenge porn even has its own distribution system. There are thousand hundred of revenge porn compiled and posted to social media platforms such as Twitter and Telegram, where these contents are even commodified. Essentially, these pictures or videos of women and girls are non-consensually immortalized as a commodity by men online. Meanwhile in the past, sexual violence against women and girls had been done as a military tactic during war. This further proves how there is an obvious gender power play at all time and how it is entrenched in our society since three centuries ago. Even during the 1965-66 killings in Indonesia, sexual violence was used as a form of torture specifically towards women and girls. This is a very prominent historical aspect that we must constantly reflect upon.

Nowadays, the most alarming problem regarding sexual violence cases is the biased attitude and unsympathetic response that most victims receive from law enforcements, health services, and even general public. The care for women and

girls who are victims of sexual violence has many facets that are related to the police, the judiciary system, medical help, and mental health. Sadly, women and girls who had experienced sexual violence often lack the willingness to seek help, either medically or legally. A big contributing factor is that our patriarchal upbringing is too widely ingrained even throu judicial system, creating a misogynistic sentiment towards processing cases of sexual violence, even from fellow women.

This situation has prevented women, especially victims, from being granted equal access to justice (Irianto 2009). It is unfortunate that the specific requirements of the justice system in order to identify and prosecute the aggressor frequently take priority o . Take example the 2018 case of Baiq Nuril, a 41-year-old bookkeeper who received sexually-suggestive phone calls from the head teacher in the school she worked in. She then began recording her calls for evidential support, which was then released to the internet without her permission by a third-party. Instead of treated as a victim of a possible sexual harassment case, Baiq was charged with violating Indonesia's Law on Information and Electronic Transactions (UU ITE). Moreover, the biased attitudes of health providers and the police, who tend to blame women for the violence, continue to discourage women from seeking help or reporting the incident.

Based on the findings of Forum Pengadaan Layanan, only about 40% of sexual violence cases are reported to the police. Even more distressing, of the 40% of cases reported, only 10% are able to be processed to court. The main reason that can adequately protect victims of sexual violence. In 2016, The House of Representatives (DPR) had proposed a Draft Law on the Elimination of Sexual Violence (RUU PKS) which aims to protect victims of sexual violence and regulate comprehensive punishments for perpetrators. Unfortunately further discussion and ratification has always been postponed and shoved behind other state matters until this day.

Another reason is that sexual violence victims are afraid of the social stigma that will surround them, as our society tend to blame women for what happened to them. As victims, women and girls are often accused of being the cause itself because of the way they dress, their body language, the way they socialize, or even because of their coincidental presence at a particular location. In this context, victims are also often accused of allowing or providing opportunities for sexual violence to happen for not having made the effort to put up a fight, or by positioning themselves in a situation where they can be easily assaulted by the perpetrator. These beliefs are extremely harmful, added up with the fact that there regulation that caters to these aspects of sexual victimization yet. It should be put into consideration shield law, which does not require the victim to prove that they resisted the attack. Hence, victim-blaming and discriminatory attitudes towards victims of sexual violence as well as perpetrator exoneration remains an unabating problem in Indonesia.

Furthermore, I believe the main importance in preventing sexual violence cases towards women and girls is for all members of society to think critically and deconstruct the patriarchal nature of the culture we have grown up in. By doing so, the general public and the government can proceed to understand why these issues happen and how to prevent them from further extending itself throughout our institutions. Unlearning the preconceived notions about gender as well as its patriarchal values will be the first step to a safer and more inclusive society. The next step highlights the importance of the intervention of our government. Essentially, what our nation lacks is a more comprehensive legal framework that guarantees truth, justice, and recovery in order to prevent cases of sexual violence happening and to protect the victims. It is also crucial for this legal framework to include criminal sanctions imposed on law enforcers if they are negligent in handling cases of sexual violence.

Conclusively, sexual violence perpetrated against women is a political matter and a deeply gendered social issue because it will always involve a gender

power play. While sexual violence occurs and recurs, women and girls are the most obvious risk factor, with young women and adolescents most at risk. Exposure to objectification, discrimination, and ultimately violence are all results of a systemic gender inequality that places women and girls at a vulnerable position in society. I may not be an expert, but believe it is the deeply-rooted patriarchal upbringing of our society that extends this widely ingrained mindset that women are inherently subordinate to men, perpetuating the cycle of sexual violence and abuse along with a sustained systemic gender inequality, consequently fostering a culture of sexual victimization and perpetrator exoneration. To fully prevent and tackle it would require proactive participation from all members of society to uproot and unlearn the patriarchal values that has been entrenched in our culture and society, and for the government to provide a more comprehensive legal framework for sexual violence.

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