TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) lamented the idea voiced by the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission VIII to drop the bill on the elimination of sexual violence or RUU PKS from the 2020 national legislation program.

The bill working committee head, Marwan Dasopang, earlier stated that the bill will be excluded from the list due to tough deliberation.

“Difficulties in the discussion, we opine, are caused by the lack of the political will to provide justice for victims,” said the Komnas Perempuan commissioner Siti Aminah Tardi to Tempo on Tuesday, June 30.

Siti said that the number of sexual assault victims continued to increase every day. They did not obtain certainty of justice and recovery, as well as a certainty that such violence will not recur in the future, she added.

Throughout 2019, Komnas Perempuan recorded that a total of 431,471 women had become victims of sexual violence, up by 6 percent from the previous year at 406,178 cases. The figure had also jumped by eight times for the past 12 years.

Siti further asserted that the Commission VIII should work harder to complete the bill, recalling that in 2019, the House pledged to make the bill its priority. “Or divert the discussion to the DPR Legislation Body that can deliberate it more comprehensively,” she added.

Siti also demanded the DPR leaders fulfill their promise to set the RUU PKS as a form of the nation’s presence for the sexual violence victims. “The presence of the state for the sake of the victims is a constitutional obligation," she concluded.

Read: Puan Maharani Talks of Continuation of RUU PKS

BUDIARTI UTAMI PUTRI