- 31/03/2019
- Category: Commentaries
Being a woman in Indonesia possesses its own challenge, especially in an open area. According to Komnas Perempuan in 2018, violence against women in public spaces occupies 36% (3528 cases) of the total percentage of violence against women in public spaces[1]. Among many forms of violence against women in public spaces, sexual violence represent the most significant percentage of 76% (2670 cases), followed by other forms of violence against women in public spaces, such as physical violence (13%, 466 cases), psychological cases (6%, 198 cases), women trafficking (5%, 191 cases), and migrant workers (3 cases)[2]. Furthermore, Komnas Perempuan also found that the three most frequent acts of sexual violence are molestation (911 cases), sexual harassment (708 cases) and rape (669 cases)[3].
Indeed, the interpretation of such data could vary. However, those numbers certainly prove that Indonesian public spaces are far from safe to Indonesian women. One of the factors that shape sexual violence in Indonesian public areas (and personal spaces, as well) is the presence of rape culture in Indonesia. According to Cobos who cited Buchwald, Fletcher, and Roth (2005), rape culture is defined as a set of belief which encourage men to act sexually aggressive and carry out violent behavior towards women[4]. Such a perspective exists as the consequence of perpetuated presumption where violence is deemed sexually attractive[5].
However, the deconstruction of rape culture in Indonesia is not facile. The perpetuation of rape culture in Indonesia is a result of the longstanding patriarchal presumption, manifested within the interpretation of religious teachings, as well as traditional values and norms. Therefore, the struggle of deconstructing rape culture must also be carried out by challenging the dominant narratives which are patriarchal and has been constructed within the Indonesian society for an extended period.
Due to the lack of awareness from Indonesian society regarding the injustice resulted by the presence of patriarchal culture, Indonesians have never taken such issues as an essential issue to be advocated to Indonesian political elites. This explains why Indonesian leaders have never securitized such matters.
Therefore, it can be concluded the deconstruction of rape culture is strenuous. Meanwhile, sexual violence in the country’s public spaces keeps happening and often threatening the life of Indonesian women. Accordingly, while combating patriarchal culture, complementary measures should be done to prevent sexual violence keeps happening in public spaces. There are several approaches to prevent sexual abuse in open spaces. The use of sophisticated and mainstream technology, such as a smartphone, can be one of the most effective methods.
Aside from assisting its users to accomplished their everyday life, smartphones can also be used as a measure to prevent sexual violence to happen in public spaces. As a reference, foreign companies and other governments have developed smartphones to serve such urgency. Some examples of applications which are designed to combat sexual violence in public spaces are Não Me Calo and Circleof6.
Não Me Calo is a smartphone application developed by Brazilian youth. After championing #hackgirlsright hackathon held by Global Fund for Women Project in 2015, Não Me Calo received financial investment and mentoring to build its app[6]. The method used by Não Me Calo is pretty simple – the app provides reviews regarding the safety level of a restaurant area based on the reviews given by its users.
Other than Não Me Calo, another application which aims to contribute to the same issue is developed in the US (United States) – Circleof6. Developed since 2011, Circleof6 is an application which aims to prevent sexual violence towards women in US public spaces, especially in several universities, such as UCLA (University of California Los Angeles) and University of Houston[7]. First, Circleof6 recommends its users to choose six closest relatives who can be reached out in time of emergency. Next, Circleof6 provides three response options represented by three action buttons – Pin, Call, and Chat.
First of all, Chat is an action button which enables its users to automatically send a text to one of the listed relatives which contains a line “I need to talk.[8]” to ask the relative to listen to the users’ problem. This option can be useful for someone who is in a less threatening situation or feeling unease after experiencing sexual violence.
Secondly, Call is an action button which enables the users to automatically send a text to one of the listed relatives which contain a line “Call and pretend you need me. I need an interruption.[9]”, which can be used to give a sign to the relative to call the users to grant the users an excuse to escape the situation. This option will be very convenient for someone who has already recognized the situation as potentially harmful but still enable the users to avoid.
Thirdly, Pin is an action button which enables the users to automatically send a text to one of the listed relatives which contains a line “Come and get me. I need help getting home safely.[10]”to give a sign to the relative to pick up and accompany the users home. This option will be essential to users who are in times of emergency where the users no longer have the chance to escape the problem on their own.
Não Me Calo and Circleof6 have their own way of preventing sexual violence towards women in public spaces. Não Me Calo reaches their goal by providing information about dangerous areas toward the safety of their users, while Circleof6 chooses to hand their users access to receive a fast response. Despite operating with their own methods, both applications have contributed to preventing sexual violence to happen in their own areas.
Indonesia can also make use of such technology to prevent sexual violence in Indonesian public space. Indonesia is currently experiencing a developing internet and smartphones penetration. According to the report published by APJII (Association of Indonesian Internet Service Provider) in 2017, 54.68% (143.26 million) of Indonesians have already had the access towards internet[11]. This number will rise due to the development of supporting infrastructure built by the Indonesian government, such as Palapa Ring[12].
APJII has also found that in 2017, 50.08% of Indonesians have already used smartphones/tablets[13]. The percentage will rise alongside the growing role of smartphones in every aspect of Indonesians’ life, as well as the ever increasing availability of affordable smartphones in Indonesia. Hence, the use of smartphones as a tool to prevent sexual violence towards women in Indonesian public spaces is a step worth initiating by the government or even local application developer.
Editor: Anisa Pratita Mantovani
Read another article written by Janitra Haryanto
[1] Komnas Perempuan. (March, 7th 2018). Catatan Tahunan (CATAHU) Komnas Perempuan Tahun 2018: Tergerusnya Ruang Aman Perempuan dalam Pusaran Politik Populisme. Accessed at: https://www.komnasperempuan.go.id/file/pdf_file/2018/SIARAN%20PERS%202018/Lembar%20Fakta%20Catahu%207%20Maret%202018.pdf. [Accessed on: 5 Mar. 2019].
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Cobos, A. (Dec. 2014). “Rape Culture” language and the news media: contested versus non-contested cases. Journal of Communication Studies, vol. 7, no. 2 (14), p. 38. Accessed at: https://www.essachess.com/index.php/jcs/article/viewFile/248/279. [Accessed on: 19 Mar. 2019].
[5] Ibid.
[6] Paula, A., Adriane, Manula, & et. al. (2018). #HACKGIRLSRIGHTS WINNER: NÃO ME CALO (I WILL NOT SHUT UP). Global Fund for Women Project. Accessed at: http://ignite.globalfundforwomen.org/gallery/naomecalo. [Accessed on: 5 Mar. 2019].
[7] Circleof6. (n.d.) Home. Circleof6. Accessed at: https://www.circleof6app.com/#. [Accessed on: 13 Mar. 2019].
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid.
[11] APJII (Asosiasi Penyelenggara Jasa Internet Indonesia). (2017). Infografis Penetrasi dan Perilaku Pengguna Internet di Indonesia: Survey 2017. APJII. Accessed at: https://web.kominfo.go.id/sites/default/files/Laporan%20Survei%20APJII_2017_v1.3.pdf. [Accessed on: 13 Mar. 2019].
[12] Clinten, B. (December, 23th 2018). Internet Kencang 30 Mbps Palapa Ring Siap Diuji di Indonesia Tengah. Kompas.com. Accessed at: https://tekno.kompas.com/read/2018/12/23/10225087/internet-kencang-30-mbps-palapa-ring-siap-diuji-di-indonesia-tengah. [Accessed on: 13 Mar. 2019].
[13] APJII.
