Haryanti Puspa Sar, Jakarta – The Anti-Sexual Violence Civil Society Coalition (Kompaks) says that the distribution of intimate video content involving singer and actor Gisella 'Gisel' Anastasia (GA) demonstrates that gender based cyber violence does indeed exist.
According to Riska Carolina, a Kompaks representative from the Indonesian Family Planning Association (PKBI) Advocacy and Public Policy Specialists Association, Anastasia is the victim of the distribution of the sex video content.
"The spread of intimate content without consent demonstrates the reality that gender based cyber violence does indeed exist and GA is one of the victims", said Carolina in a press release on Thursday December 31.
The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) has recorded a 300 percent surge in cases of gender based cyber violence with as many as 281 cases in 2020 compared with 97 cases in 2018.
Carolina is urging the House of Representatives (DPR) and the government to immediately enact the Draft Law on the Elimination of Sexual Violence (RUU PKS) as a legal umbrella to protect the rights of victims of sexual violence.
"Like GA, to provide protection and rehabilitation without criminalisation", she said.
Aside from this, Carolina is also asking law enforcement officials and the police to focus on investigating the person who leaked the video.
"The police must immediately halt legal proceedings against GA by issuing a SP3 [order to stop investigation] and treat GA as the victim", she said.
Furthermore, Carolina is asking journalists and the mass media to prioritise neutral reporting on the case.
"Not blaming or painting GA in a bad light, and reporting this case from the perspective of the victim, in a neutral journalistic manner which treats [GA] with the highest respect", she said.
Kompaks is a network or collective which focuses on efforts to provide information in the context of improving the public's understanding of sexual violence.
The network was established in 2019 and is active on the internet in campaigning and advocating the issue of sexual violence.
Notes
Indonesian singer and actor Gisella Anastasia has been charged under the country's draconian anti-pornography law after a 19-second intimate video of her having sex was leaked online in November. Anastasia told police that she recorded the video for personnel use in 2017 but it was leaked after she lost her phone. Despite the fact that the anti-pornography law clearly stipulates that "pornographic" material for personal consumption is not punishable under the law, several people have been charged and jailed after third parties leaked privately recorded content since the law was passed in 2008. The law has also been widely used to persecute the LGBT community.
The original Kompas.com article only referred to Gisella Anastasia as GA. Her full name was used in the translation to provide clarity for non-Indonesian readers since it has already been used in several Indonesian and English language reports on the case.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "GA Jadi Korban Penyebaran Video Seks, Koalisi Masyarakat Sipil Desak RUU PKS Disahkan".]
