TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Women School of Ciliwung in South Jakarta has embraced women in the area to decrease the number of domestic violence through education and women empowerment. The school was named after Ciliwung River which flows from Bogor in West Java to Jakarta.

"I hope that education on gender as one topic in the Women School of Ciliwung could reduce the number of domestic violence cases," head of the school Musriyah said here on Saturday.

Musriyah who was a victim of domestic violence said, poor education and understanding on the role of gender in household has become one factor that triggers the violence.

"This school is a forum for women to learn together and seek solutions to establish gender equality in the neighborhood, especially in the family," she said.

The weekly school is located in Rawajati, Pancoran Subdistrict of South Jakarta. Members would learn on various topics including gender equality, women's role, reproductive health, communications, and methods to address problems and seek solutions.

The Women School was established in 2003 initiated by the Institute of Alternative Education for Women (Institut Kapal Perempuan) and now has 100 members.

The National Commission on Violence Against Women has recorded 348,446 cases of violence against women in 2017, an increase of 74 percent compared to the previous year.

Domestic violence showed the highest occurrence of 71 percent, followed by violence in the community domain (26 percent), and in the state domain (1.8 percent), according to the commission.

For domestic violence itself, the highest case was physical abuse (41 percent), followed by sexual abuse (31 percent), psychological abuse (15 percent), and economic violence (13 percent).

ANTARA