Jakarta – The proposed banning of mini-skirts in an around the House of Representatives (DPR) was one of the issues taken up in an action commemorating International Women’s Day in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Thursday.

“It’s not the skirt that’s mini, but your brain that’s mini”, read one of the banners brought by the Women’s Justice Forum (Forum Keadilan Perempuan, FKP).

“People still have a patriarchal thinking, believing that if a person wears revealing clothing they want to be raped. This is a patriarchal thinking that has to be exposed”, said FKP spokesperson Iswarini.

According to Iswarini, many women who are not wearing a mini-skirt have also been raped, even those wearing a jilbab (veil) and concealing clothing. The protesters also stated that the state has failed to fulfill women’s right to protection and security as mandated by the Indonesian constitution.

FKP citied data from the Jakarta Metro Jaya regional police, which recorded 68 cases of rape in the Greater Jakarta area in 2011.

The victims of rape potentially experience being raped seven times, by the perpetrator, society, the victim’s associates, religion both institutionalised as well as individual, the police, the courts and the media.

Iswarini asserted that the state’s role should be to protect women. “If this doesn’t happen, then the state is neglecting the conditional mandate to provide as sense of security and protection to women”, she said.

Iswarini also raised the issue of the regulations in the Criminal Code that classify rape as an immoral act that disturbs social order and security, not as an attack on the integrity of a woman’s body.

“Regulations such as this ignore the importance of the mechanisms of protection, recovery and rehabilitation of the victims”, said Iswarini. (M047)

[“Bukan salah rok mini” kata demonstran di depan Istana – Antara News. Kamis, 8 Maret 2012. Translated by James Balowski.]