After launching a peaceful action on Tuesday July 15, the Alliance for the Enactment of the Draft Law on the Eradication of Sexual Violence (Aliansi Sahkan RUU PKS) in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta held a second action in front of the Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) building on Tuesday July 21.
This time round, the action was slightly different from the earlier one because was organised so those taking part in the rally could to give political speeches.
The action, which began at 3.30 pm, was joined by around 50 protesters who held banners and posters with their main demand – the ratification of the Draft Law on the Elimination of Sexual Violence (RUU PKS).
Aside from enacting the RUU PKS, the demonstrators also articulated several other issues such as opposing the Draft Omnibus Law on Job Creation and the Draft Law on Family Resilience.
In political speeches by demonstrators, they mostly took up the large number of sexual violence cases which have put us into a situation of a sexual violence emergency hence the importance of ratifying the RUU PKS.
Demanding that the state immediately enact the RUU PKS however is not something which is easy because the state has no interest in protecting the people from sexual violence, let alone bringing prosperity to the ordinary people.
This was proven by a recent decision by the House of Representatives (DPR) to remove the RUU PKS from the 2020 National Priority Legislation Program and instead include the Draft Law on Family Resilience, a law which will perpetuate sexism and generate phobia against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Questioning Plus (LGBTIQ+) people.
Meanwhile sexism is flourishing in society and this is impacting upon the rise in cases of sexual violence. This proves that cases of sexual violence are not just a problem between individuals but is a systemic problem.
Under today’s political system, namely capitalism, which perpetuates sexism, LGBTIQ+ phobia and sexual violence, it places women, LGBTIQ+ people, the working class, the ordinary people and other oppressed groups in an increasingly unsafe position.
The action ended at 5 pm with the reading out of a statement which reaffirmed that the Alliance for the Ratification of the RUU PKS will continue holding demonstrations in front of the Yogyakarta DPRD every Tuesday until the RUU PKS is passed into law. (wzk)
-- Arah Juang (Direction of Struggle) is the official newspaper of the Socialist Union.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Aliansi Sahkan RUU P-KS Yogyakarta Kembali Turun Ke Jalan”.]
Source: https://www.arahjuang.com/2020/07/23/aliansi-sahkan-ruu-p-ks-yogyakarta-kembali-turun-ke-jalan/
