Monday, January 30, 2023
Khmer Daily Cambodia News
34 °c
Phnom Penh
  • LATEST
  • CAMBODIA
  • ASIA
    • JAPAN
    • SOUTH KOREA
    • TAIWAN
  • WORLD
    • CHINA
    • RUSSIA
  • BUSINESS CAMBODIA
  • TECHNOLOGY
No Result
View All Result
  • LATEST
  • CAMBODIA
  • ASIA
    • JAPAN
    • SOUTH KOREA
    • TAIWAN
  • WORLD
    • CHINA
    • RUSSIA
  • BUSINESS CAMBODIA
  • TECHNOLOGY
No Result
View All Result
The Khmer Daily
No Result
View All Result
Home ASIA Indonesia

Indonesian victims of domestic violence struggle to access help during quarantine

July 13, 2020
in ASIA, Indonesia
0
Indonesian victims of domestic violence struggle to access help during quarantine
0
SHARES
20
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

“She would send WhatsApp messages to our hotline early in the morning or at noon, when her husband was asleep,” said Uli Pangaribuan, a lawyer representing a victim of domestic violence, about how her team was contacted last month.

“She was very discreet,” Uli from the Legal Aid Foundation of the Indonesian Women’s Association for Justice’s Jakarta office (LBH Apik Jakarta) told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

“She asked for our help but forbade us to contact her out of fear that her husband, who had been working from home for the past three months, would notice.

“She never called. She only texted, and she immediately deleted all the messages after she updated us.”

The woman told LBH APIK that her husband had physically and sexually abused her during quarantine but that she could not flee because she had nowhere to go and he watched her every movement.

“She said he had often beaten her in front of the children,” Uli said.

“It took almost a month to finally help get her and her children out of the house and place them into a safe house. She left the house quietly one morning while her husband was asleep,” Uli said.

“Similar situations have happened to many others who contacted us, which is horrifying because they cannot leave their houses like on normal days before the Covid-19 pandemic.”

As the coronavirus has forced people to stay home, women living with violent partners have found themselves increasingly isolated from others and from resources that can help them.

They have been trapped with their abusers in their own homes and have been exposed to increased violence.

Not every victim can leave the house and find shelter, especially when they rely financially on their husbands and have no family or friends nearby to help.

Some victims seeking help from LBH APIK are in this situation. Many of them have decided to bear life in the abusive environment “until the pandemic shows signs of easing”, Uli said.

In the three and a half months between March 26 and July 7, LBH APIK Jakarta recorded 122 cases of domestic violence – nearly half of the 249 domestic violence cases it handled last year.

Access to domestic violence shelters during the pandemic, Uli said, had become more important than ever.

However, state-owned shelters required victims to provide documents showing negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or rapid antibody test results and proof that the victim had lodged a formal complaint with the police before the shelter accepted the applicant.

“They are afraid, abused, traumatized, trapped for months during the pandemic. Yet they are required to go to the police station first and need to think about how they will get the rapid test.

“Not to mention that not all of them have money for the test,” Uli said.

“These long processes take time and prevent them from getting immediate help.”

The absence of a fast government response has prompted LBH APIK to provide independent emergency shelters for the victims. Some other independent entities have provided similar shelters.

LBH APIK is seeking more funding to support its independent safe houses. They are also accepting donations of basic daily supplies for victims living there.

United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Indonesia deputy country director Sophie Kemkhadze described gender-based violence as one of the “invisible consequences of these

“Victims can no longer stay at their own home; they need to recover. Rapid tests can be taken later. Hopefully, [Indonesia] will apply this,” she said.

Another challenge, Margaretha said, was that there were no facilities available that allowed the police to receive and investigate the cases online during the pandemic.

While the number of cases of gender-based violence during the pandemic has been quite high, lawmakers dropped a long-awaited sexual violence eradication bill from this year’s legislative priority list earlier this month, a move activists have described as ironic.

The bill, if passed into law, would make the government responsible for giving victims of sexual abuse protection and access to justice.

Under the current law, victims are not entitled to any help from the government. They have to spend their own money to bring their cases to court or for counseling and rehabilitation.

“The pandemic shows how pivotal it is to pass the bill into law,” Uli said.

This article was first published in Asia One . All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.

Tags: #COVID-19#Domestic ViolenceIndonesia
Previous Post

US lobby group calls for full taxes on all Cambodian rice

Next Post

Thai government to sign deal with Shopee in bid to make farmers tap e-commerce platform

Related Posts

Thailand to begin construction of $11.6b aviation city this year

Thailand to begin construction of $11.6b aviation city this year

by AsiaOne
January 28, 2023
0
3

BANGKOK – Thailand will begin construction on the 290-billion baht (S$11.6 billion) U-Tapao aviation city early this year, a government spokesperson...

More than 160 Afghans die in bitterly cold weather

More than 160 Afghans die in bitterly cold weather

by AsiaOne
January 28, 2023
0
1

KABUL — More than 160 people have died from the cold in Afghanistan this month in the worst winter in more...

Taiwan appoints new, British-educated intelligence chief

Taiwan appoints new, British-educated intelligence chief

by AsiaOne
January 28, 2023
0
4

TAIPEI — Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen appointed a new intelligence chief on Thursday (Jan 26), a British-educated senior diplomat, as part...

Most Popular

Passenger in Nepal plane crash livestreams last seconds of his life on Facebook

Passenger in Nepal plane crash livestreams last seconds of his life on Facebook

January 18, 2023
31
Nepal plane crash searchers rappel, fly drones to find last passengers

Nepal plane crash searchers rappel, fly drones to find last passengers

January 18, 2023
25
Cambodia PM says Cambodia’s economy maintained 5.5 pct growth rate

Cambodia PM says Cambodia’s economy maintained 5.5 pct growth rate

January 2, 2023
19
Belt and Road Initiative projects will help Cambodia become an upper-middle income country: Cambodian expert

Belt and Road Initiative projects will help Cambodia become an upper-middle income country: Cambodian expert

January 4, 2023
18
Rescuers in Vietnam race against time to save boy trapped in concrete pile

Rescuers in Vietnam race against time to save boy trapped in concrete pile

January 2, 2023
17
Prince William feared Prince Harry was being ‘brainwashed’ by his therapist

Prince William feared Prince Harry was being ‘brainwashed’ by his therapist

January 9, 2023
17

© 2020 By Khmer Daily News

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Latest
  • Cambodia
  • ASIA
  • World
  • Business
  • Tech

© 2019 The Khmer Daily.

error: Content is protected !!