FLORES (UCAN): Catholic nuns and women activists joined hands to launch a community forum to tackle rising gender-based violence in Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province. Puan Floresta Bicara [Flores Women Talk], was launched on June 19. It aims to work in three large islands of the province, including the Catholic-majority Flores Island.
The group was launched by the Congregation of Sisters of the Holy Spirit and women activists from various social organisations in the province.
Sister Herdiana Randut, head of the group, said they started the group “because of concerns and unrest regarding gender issues in East Nusa Tenggara.”
In recent years, the province has recorded a spike in gender-based violence.
She said that “weak handling and resolution of gender-based cases,” such as increasing sexual violence cases, prompted them to start the initiative.
This situation is still exacerbated by the lack of space for victims to speak of sexual violence and other cases of unequal power relations based on gender, Sister Randut said.
She said the group plans to campaign against gender-based violence, providing support to victims and providing space for women to talk about their problems.
On March 8, a 74-year-old man from the South Elar District was reported to the police for raping his granddaughter, who studies in elementary school.
In West Manggarai Regency, cases of sexual violence increased significantly to 68 cases last year, up from 11 in 2022. There were only 16 cases in 2021 and 6 cases in 2020, according to the Catholic advocacy group, Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission.
Meanwhile, in East Manggarai Regency, police recorded 16 cases of sexual violence in 2023 compared to 14 cases in 2022.
In Sikka Regency, police recorded six cases of child sexual violence this year. In 2022, the police registered 20 similar cases and 28 cases in 2023.
The East Manggarai police chief, Suryanto, who goes by one name like many Indonesians, said the cases are increasing, and “the perpetrators are generally those close to the victim, including the biological father.” In May, a man was accused of raping his daughter and two children.
On March 8, a 74-year-old man from the South Elar District was reported to the police for raping his granddaughter, who studies in elementary school.
In Borong, the regency capital, police detained a father on February 16 for raping his daughter in 2021 when she was 15 years old.
Rape and sexual violence are publishable by 15 years in jail, and an additional five years for the accused if the person is a family member or a relative, the officer said.
Arin Dampus, a representative of a youth forum in Ruteng, Manggarai Regency, joined the new group. She said it can “become a common forum for anyone to voice gender issues.”
