Nowadays, sexual harassment has become a major issue that is faced by Indonesia. Based on Catatan Tahunan 2017 that was published by Komnas Perempuan, there has been 259.150 harassment cases against women that has occurred in Indonesia. In family setting, rape has achieved the highest number of any kind of harassment against women with 1.389 cases, followed by molestation with 1.266 cases. In community setting, sexual harassment has the highest number than other type of harassment against women.
Sexual harassment cases have been mentioned many times in the newspapers and other media, but not all of Indonesian people are aware of this issue. They often don’t realize that they themselves have been victim to sexual harassment, or they think that this problem isn’t that important. In many cases, the victim usually chooses to stay silent. Many people blame the victim rather than the abuser. They say that it’s the victim’s fault because they give “opportunity” to the abuser.
Sexual harassment does not only give negative impact to the victim’s physical condition but also to their mental health. Physical impacts of sexual harassment take shorter time to recover compared to the impact of sexual harassment on mental health, which takes a lot more work and a longer recovery period, perhaps even lasting a lifetime. Furthermore, it may lead the victim to take the decision of ending her life.
In order to commemorate IWD 2019, SCORP and SCORA CIMSA are conducting this campaign against sexual harassment, including Air Campaign (infographics regarding the rising number of sexual abuse experienced by women and the #MeToo movement; IWD video series to promote the importance of speaking up to women’s rights) and Ground Campaign (HRT X PETRA Training by locals and “#MeToo: The Talk” talkshow with three notable speakers to share their thoughts on sexual abuse and harassment). Hopefully this campaign will make a real impact in tackling the issue of sexual harassment.
