AMPLIFYING THE VOICE OF VICTIMS

The original article: https://www.sjesjesuits.global/sj-reflections/amplifying-the-voices-of-victims/
By Arta Elisabeth Purba
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Abstract
In this era of digital development, it’s not easy to minimize the status quo phenomenon of patriarchal culture in the Indonesian society, especially in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). The patriarchal culture in that province places women as second class and causes many unresolved injustices in the society. One of the various examples of injustice due to patriarchy that needs to be highlighted in this Province is the case of sexual harassment and human trafficking of women and children.
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In this era of digital development, it’s not easy to minimize the status quo phenomenon of patriarchal culture in the Indonesian society, especially in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). The patriarchal culture in that province places women as second class and causes many unresolved injustices in the society. One of the various examples of injustice due to patriarchy that needs to be highlighted in this province is the case of sexual harassment and human trafficking of women and children(Abdullah, 2016).
Before discussing various cases of women harassment, it’s important to know first about East Nusa Tenggara. Geographically, NTTis the southernmost Province of Indonesia. It’s located between the continents of Asia and Australia, and flanked by the Indonesian Ocean and the Flores Sea. NTT consists of 21 regencies and 1 city that has total area 4.734.990 Ha (PUPR 2017). According to the NTT Central Agency of Statistic in 2019, the total population of the 7 islands was estimated to be 5.287,302 people.
Since 2018 , this province has indeed been full of human rights problems, security issues that are rarely published (Ama, 2020; Nugroho, 2012) and other social problems such as poverty, unemployment and unresolved inequality
Nationally, according to the annual records of the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan), sexual harassment cases increase year by year. From 2013 to 2015 there were 298,224 cases per year (Manan, 2021), in 2017 there were 348,466 cases, in 2019 there were 406,178 cases and an increase of six percent in 2020 with431,471 cases (Manan, 2021b). Meanwhile, if specified by age and region,the sexual harassment cases in the eastern part of Indonesia, especially the NTT during January to August 2020 are 31 cases, 15percentof that number were caused by the children’s relative. From these cases,not more than three cases were processed by the court, the others were solved by custom such as bringing customary fines in the form of money, weaving, animals, or other objects, according to local customary demands to the victim's family (Ama, 2020).
Even though many families have very bad experiences about human trafficking and suffer greatly because of it, they are still very reluctant to disclose and report the perpetrators of human trafficking. The reason is still the same, the perpetrators are their relatives.
The number of sexual harassment cases in NTT is less when compared to the direct report data and results of the field investigations of the East Nusa Tenggara Women and Children Protection Agency (LPA NTT) based in Kupang. From January to October 2020, LPA NTT reported there were 37 cases (Ama, 2020b), meanwhile, there was a significant difference in numbers of cases when compared to data from the NTT Ministry of Law and Human Rights in 2020, which was about 1000 cases of sexual abuse against children in the NTT region (Keda, 2020). However, it’s still a taboo to talk about harassment in thefamily because 97 percent of the perpetrators are the relatives, they can be biological fathers, stepfathers, uncles, siblings, grandfathers, cousins, nephews, and neighbors (Ama, 2020b;Bere, 2022). The victims remain silent.
One observes a similar phenomenon when it comes to human trafficking. around 104 dead bodies were returned to NTT in 2018, an outcome of human trafficking.. The repatriation of bodies always happens from year to year; in 2019 121 bodies were received, in 2020 there were 90 bodies, in 2021, 124 bodies and in 2022 (from January to February) there were 16 bodies. Most of those who were caught in this disheartening situation were the ‘illegal’ or undocumented workers. They worked without documents, working overtime and over capacity and not getting paid and experiencing violence from their employer abroad.
Even though many families have very bad experiences about human trafficking and suffer greatly because of it, they are still very reluctant to disclose and report the perpetrators of human trafficking. The reason is still the same, the perpetrators are their relatives. Even if they speak, their voices do not reach the stakeholders. They are always waiting for their family members who is missing for several years to suddenly appear in good health, even though they know a new name of this province is the "coffin" province (Kurniawan, 2019).
This injustice must not go unpunished! Serious efforts are needed from all levels of society to move and amplifying the voices of victims from the grassroots to the level of policy makers. Therefore, the government, humanitarian agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) should synergize with each other in advocating, and educating people about the dangers of sexual harassment and human trafficking and inviting them to be involved in mitigating to reduce the risk.
In this regard, it is worth appreciating the humanitarian work at the grassroots level which has been actively acting consistently until now. The SDP sisters whom I collaborate with, religious people, the Eastern Indonesia Women's Network (JPIT) and other NGOs in Kupang and NTT are part of the women who have the courage to speak up and tirelessly fight on the front lines to help resolve these cases and to get legal justice. This effort needs to be appreciated, realized and continued! Without them, the victims will always be kept silent in the midst of oppression. These women and feminine NGOs always make appropriate mitigation measures by providing anti-human trafficking sensitization in villages, and equipping women through formation in areas like sewing, farming etc as a way to fight against human trafficking and sexual abuse of women.
These efforts need to be considered more deeply at the tertiary level of education. The question of human trafficking and sexual abuse of women and children needs to be addressed in the academic milieu and given deeper reflections as to means coming to an end of this reality. Also, the media could be used as humanitarian disaster mitigation tool because of its ability to make to the voice of victims heard.
Hopefully the efforts to handle and mitigate sexual harassment and human trafficking that carried out so far, can help the victims and have an impact on reducing their risk. These efforts, of course, do not stop here. Through the Sahabat Insan institute one continues to handle similar humanitarian tasks, build relationships with humanitarian activists at the grassroots and carry out duties at the university while remaining focused on humanitarian issues that arise from the academic world. Women are encouraged to join such mitigations to fight against sexual abuses to women and children and to call to an end of human trafficking in NTT. Happy international women's day. Stay empowered!