“Loved it when you were bent over, sweetie!”.
A phrase that should never have been aimed at women but becomes a woman’s daily diet. Analogy – an analogy that places women as objects, blamed for actions that are not done, limited by their dreams, and as if all these things are considered normal and normalised. This situation is commonly known as the Rape culture.
Rape culture is a society or environment whose social attitudes affect normalising or belittling sexual violence and harassment. In the 1970s, the culture of rape was found in and defined as “a social environment that supports sexual violence in a normal and justified way, influenced by persistent gender inequality and attitudes towards gender roles and sexuality”.
According to CATAHU, the number of violence cases against women during the pandemic throughout 2020 was 299,911 cases. There were 291,677 cases of Pengadilan Negeri/Pengadilan Agama, 8,234 of Lembaga layanan mitra Komnas Perempuan, 2,389 of Unit Pelayanan dan Rujukan (UPR) Komnas Perempuan, with a record of 2,134 cases of gender-based cases and 255 cases of which were cases not gender-based. Based on data released by CATAHU, there is a decrease in the number of cases of violence compared to 2019. However, this does not indicate that instances of violence against women have indeed decreased. Several factors have influenced the decrease in the number of cases. The first reason is that victims will find it difficult to get access to protection during the pandemic due to the limited space for movement with the PSBB system implemented by the government so that few cases can be reported.
The forms of rape culture that often occurs in social life include rape jokes, victim-blaming, flashing, catcalling, and revenge porn. However, we should note that in this era, the current generation has very different developments which lead to a better direction where they begin to open their minds and become aware of this. Several non-governmental organisations have raised the theme of rape. This has made many changes, starting from small things where it creates a safe and comfortable space for victims to voice their stories, making people aware that there is a culture of rape around us. As carried out by SCORP and SCORA CIMSA Indonesia held an event consisting of several interventions in the form of infographics, public discussions, campaigns, and mapping of the centre of the sexual violence crisis in International Women’s Day 2021.
Everyone who gets the opportunity for us is not only an organisation but also us as individuals to fight against the rape culture. We can take steps, create a culture of enthusiastic consent, redefine masculinity, stop blaming the victim, broaden our understanding of rape culture, invest in women, and listen to survivors. We are starting from small steps for significant changes.
Women are “more than” objects. The title of free expression is for humanity, including women. Don’t teach women to express themselves but educate men to respect all human beings, including women. D quotes from Awaken The Greatness Within, “Experience is the lesson of the past to reduce the burdens of the future.” – Michael Sage. Learn from the experience and don’t let it happen in the future. Educate the next generation.
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