Battered Women Too ‘Dependent and Weak’ to Leave Husbands, Say Police

The Jakarta Globe, Anita Rachman, January 16, 2009

Almost 25 percent of domestic violence complaints made to police in 18 provinces in Indonesia in 2008 were withdrawn due to financial or social reasons, National Police said on Thursday. 

“Our women are dependent and weak,” said Sundari, an investigator from the directorate of security and transnational affairs at the National Police. 

She was commenting on figures compiled by the National Police that show that as many as 152 out of 682 complaints made in 18 provinces were withdrawn by the complainants because of their dependency on their husbands and commitment to their families. 

The figures are the tip of the iceberg, with the vast majority of domestic violence incidents in Indonesia going unreported. 

“Many of them are afraid of getting divorced or being left by their husbands,” Sundari said during a discussion forum on violence against women, in Jakarta on Thursday. “Women are worried about their financial situation; most of them rely on their husbands financially.” 

Women also withdrew their complaints because of social pressure. In other cases, women were forced by their children to retract their complaints. 

“The children do not want to see their fathers being detained,” Sundari said. 

Sundari said that a weak bargaining position and poor understanding of domestic violence made it difficult for investigators wrap up a case swiftly. She said that once a woman reported a case of abuse, she must work as part of a team with the investigators. 

“What happens most of the time is that victims are often in two minds about giving evidence,” she said. 

There were many cases where the lack of supporting evidence meant the case could not proceed to trial, Sundari said. 

She said that many women failed to r e port domestic abuse promptly, which could also hamper investigations. 

“If a wife reports the abuse several days after the attack, the police will have difficulties establishing a case because the bruises would have faded,” Sundari said. 

Police would only allow mild cases of abuse to be dropped, including slapping, kicking, punching, psychological abuse and husbands who were having extramarital affairs.Cases that could not be withdrawn included stabbings, serious assault, rape or other forms of sexual abuse. 

Some of the provinces with the highest rate of domestic violence are Gorontalo, with 39 of 56 reported cases dropped, South Sulawesi with 35 from 47, South Sumatra with 20 of 27 and Bali with 30 of 112.