UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND
A woman in Jakarta, Indonesia. A new survey reveals women in the country face high rates of violence PHOTO/© CE/Uwe Aranas
Dita* never imagined that she would be a single mother at the age of 33. But after enduring 10 years of an abusive marriage, she found herself alone and struggling to raise two children.
Her husband had seemed nice enough at first. “When I met him, he was kind and polite,” Dita said.
But soon after their wedding, he forced her to abandon her career. Things escalated from there.
“My husband would beat me and use harsh words when he was angry, sometimes in front of the children,” she said.
Tragically, her experience is not unusual.
A UNFPA-supported survey has just revealed that violence against Indonesian women is widespread.
First reliable national data ever
The nationwide survey was commissioned by Indonesia’s Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry, and was carried out by the Central Statistics Agency, with assistance from UNFPA, last year.
Some 9,000 households were surveyed in 83 districts, across 24 provinces. It used a methodology designed to collect sensitive information. Enumerators were trained in gender issues and conducted the survey in one-on-one interviews.
The results are the first reliable national data on this subject, ever, in the country.
The survey look at four types of violence: physical, sexual, emotional and economic. Emotional violence includes threats, humiliation, intimidation and insults. Economic violence includes not allowing a person to work or confiscating a person’s money.
The preliminary findings, released in March, revealed that two in five Indonesian women – or just over 41 per cent – have experienced at least one of these four types of violence in her lifetime. Sixteen per cent had experienced one of these types of violence in the last year.
“The data are sobering. It shows that violence against women happens around us,” said UNFPA’s representative in Indonesia, Dr. Annette Sachs Robertson.
UNFPA for more