Govt to Include 7 Types of Sexual Violence in TPKS Bill

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The House of Representatives’ (DPR) Legislation Body (Baleg) and the government have commenced discussion on the substance of the sexual violence crime bill or RUU TPKS, including the problem inventory list (DIM) issued by the government on Monday, March 28.

The government noted a total of 588 issues summarized in 12 chapters and 81 articles. The new substances include the types of criminal acts of sexual violence.

In the DPR draft, there were five types of violence, namely; physical sexual harassment, non-physical sexual harassment, forced contraception, forced sterilization, and sexual torture. The government added articles on sexual slavery and forced marriage.

“The seven types of violence have not been regulated in other laws,” said Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights, Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej, during a meeting with Baleg at the Senayan Parliament Complex, Monday, March 28.

Additionally, the government proposed a number of other types of violence that fall into the category of sexual violence. Among them are rape, obscene acts, sexual intercourse, obscene acts and sexual exploitation of children, acts that violate decency against the will of the victim, pornography involving children or that explicitly contains violence, and sexual exploitation, abortion, forced prostitution, human trafficking intended for sexual exploitation, domestic sexual violence, and others.

A number of the violence above have actually been regulated in the Criminal Code, the Law on Human Trafficking, the Law on Domestic Violence Eradication, and other regulations. However, the government proposed them to also be regulated in the RUU TPKS.

The goal, Edward explained, is to emphasize that the procedural law and protection in the TPKS bill also apply to sexual violence crimes contained in other laws and regulations, including regulations that will be promulgated at a later date.

“Because data from Komnas HAM and KPAI etc. show that less than 300 cases or less than 5 percent of the total 6,000 cases of sexual violence against children and women are processed into court. It means there is something wrong with our procedural law,” he said.

Edward also said the government will regulate in detail the procedural law regarding cases of criminal acts of sexual violence in RUU TPKS.

Read: Sexual Violence Crime Bill a Form of Indonesia's Commitment, Says DPR

DEWI NURITA