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Rampant domestic violence haunts women in rural Java

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Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – Domestic violence remains rampant in rural Java, with one in two women in Bantul regency, Yogyakarta, suffering emotional, physical or sexual abuse from their partner, according to a recent survey.

England-based non-governmental organization Sister for Change, together with the Empowerment of Female Heads of Households Program (Pekka) and Women's Empowerment Against Poverty (PPMK), conducted a survey from January 2015 to March 2016 with 398 female respondents in 38 villages and six districts in Java.

The survey used the snowball sampling technique as its research method, in which respondents recommend others to be interviewed.

The study, entitled "Combating impunity. Ending silence, making laws to stop violence against women, especially for rural women and girls in Java, Indonesia" showed a level of violence higher than the global average of one in three women affected.

"Bantul is a sample to represent the life experience of rural women in Java. We believe this is likely happening in other regions in Java," Sister For Change cofounder Alison Gordon told The Jakarta Post after presenting the study in Yogyakarta on Wednesday.

The survey also showed that 48 percent of rural women in Bantul were breadwinners for their families but only one in four had a say in household expenses.

Moreover, the survey revealed that one in four women had suffered sexual violence. In 94 percent of cases, the victim knew the perpetrator.

One in two women who reported crimes committed against them were shunned or received a backlash as they were told such violence was "normal" or that it was not a crime.

Four out of five women reported cases of violence but never saw the perpetrator prosecuted. Women in the rural areas also lacked access to justice and had little information on their legal rights or laws on violence against women.

Based on an analysis of various cases in Bantul, Gordon said the community considered domestic violence to be shameful and chose to silence victims while giving impunity to perpetrators.

"The state has failed to raise public awareness on the law on violence against women. As a result, violence against women is often not recognized as a crime, reinforcing the sense of entitlement of men to perpetrate violence with impunity," she added.

Separately, National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) member Khariroh Ali said the Sister for Change study was not dissimilar to the commission's findings. The group received more than 321,000 reports on violence against women last year.

"This is an iceberg phenomenon. The facts could be higher than the figures because women need the courage to report the abuse they experience as they are subject to negative stigma," Khariroh said.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/12/02/rampant-domestic-violence-haunts-women-rural-java.html.