More funds needed to help abused women

By Konradus Epa, Jakarta

The National Commission on Violence against Women has renewed a call for donations to help prevent Indonesian women becoming victims of violence following a spike in cases over the past several years.

The “16 Days Movement Forever” campaign, which was launched last year and will end in 2014, is collecting money on behalf of the Women Crisis Center, an organization that assists victims of violence. The campaign aims to raise six billion rupiah (about US$665,000).

The commission says funds are desperately needed following a sharp rise in attacks on women in the last four to five years — from 20,526 in 2005 to 143,586 in 2009.

“Every three minutes, one woman suffers from violence. Every hour, there are 16 acts of violence against women,” said commission spokesperson Yendi Amelia in a statement yesterday.

The commission is therefore renewing its call for people to help the 16 Days Movement Forever campaign, the statement said.

“The movement invites all people who care about women and wish to see an end to acts of violence against them to commit themselves by contributing at least 1,000 rupiah a day for 16 days,” Amelia said.

Last year, the program raised 49,409,000 rupiah. Several institutions, including Atma Jaya Catholic University are also taking part in the campaign.

“Through this campaign, we want to make the public aware of a very serious issue,” Amelia said.

The campaign was started because “the government’s response to the issue is very poor,” said Neng Dara Affiah, another commission member.

Related Reports:

Indonesian women stand up to sexual violence

Commission backs law for Papuan women

http://www.ucanews.com/