17 November 2007,

In 2006 alone, there were reportedly 3 million cases of violence against women, affecting 2.27 million women across Indonesia. Most of the incidences took place at home and were perpetrated by close relatives of the victims, said a newly released 2006 survey on Violence against Women and Children.

A staggering 68% occurred at home, 27% happened outside the house and 3.4% took place at the workplace. Among the reported types of violence include psychological violence (63%), physical violence (23%) and neglect (17.9%). The perpetrators are husbands (55.1%) and neighbors (19.6%), while 11% of the respondents said they suffer different types of violence inflicted by their parents or parents in law, children/grand children and other family relatives. The high number of incidences indicates that violence against women is an offense that lurks within Indonesian households. These types of violence are often caused by economic hardship (34.2%), by the perceived disobedience of the victims (12.5%), the perpetrators’ bad behavior (13.6%), jealousy (14%) and other causes (25%).

The data presented in the report, said Dr. Rusman Heriawan, head of BPS Statistics Indonesia, may not capture all cases that occurred in the society since violence against women and children is still considered sensitive issues.
The report is jointly produced by BPS Statistics Indonesia and the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and is published with funding support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

While stressing that violence against women and children is a violation against human rights, Minister of Women’s Empowerment Meutia Hatta Swasono expressed her hopes that the findings of the survey can be used by the stakeholders to take immediate actions in the efforts to eliminate violence against women.

For further information please contact:
Maria Endah Hulupi
UNFPA Communications Officer: 0812 1115 116