Henry, Jakarta – The baton urging the enactment of the Draft Law on the Elimination of Sexual Violence (RUU PKS) into to law has been taken up.
To mark this, The Body Shop Indonesia along with the Recovery Foundation, the feminist publication Magdalene, the Makassar International Writers Festival and the Plan International Indonesia Foundation handed over a petition to the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission VIII.
The handover of the petition – which was signed by 421,218 people – was the final part of a campaign titled "Stop Sexual Violence The Body Shop Indonesia: Everyone Cares, Everyone is Protected, Ratify the RUU PKS".
The petition was handed over to lawmaker Diah Pitaloka as the chairperson of the Republic of Indonesia Women's Caucus (KPP RI) and head of the DPR's Commission VIII on Monday March 8 to coincide with International Women's Day (IWD).
"We hand this petition over to the chairperson of the Republic of Indonesia Women's Caucus as a tangible way of convey the mandate of the people who have been supporting this campaign", said Body Shop Indonesia Executive Chairperson and owner Suzy Hutomo in handing over the petition at an event broadcast virtually.
"We are pursuing our role as public advocates and hope that the signatures which we have gathered can push the government to immediately enact the Draft Law on the Elimination of Sexual Violence", said Hutomo.
"We will continue to monitor and place our hopes in the gentlemen and lady House members to commit to fighting for this draft law until it is ratified into law and in the end become a strong legal umbrella and provide justice, especially for the victims, as well as protection, guaranteeing the safety and rights of Indonesians from any and all forms of sexual violence", she said.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was " Petisi Desak Pengesahan RUU PKS Resmi Dilayangkan ke DPR, Apa Langkah Berikutnya?".]
