Legal Politics and Strategy on Protection of Women from Violence in Human Rights Context

Abstract

In the past, violence against women was viewed as common actions and was tolerated, especially if it occurred within a household. People were often powerless to protect the victims, and any kinds of intervention were considered as taboo, due to the essence of domestic relationship that was portrayed as private matters. Not only domestic violence, but other acts of violence such as sexual harassment, most of the time, women became victims of these violence. However, as the community progressed, many of these actions were later criminalized because it led to rape and murder. In addition, today's discourse on violence against women is something that is widely discussed by practitioners, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academics and the wider community. This was motivated by the demands of an increasingly complex role of women, along with the growing progressive view on human rights which see both sexes as equal. Violence against women is an act of human rights violations experienced by women. Therefore, the United Nations (UN) organization later recognize violence against women as a crime. The existence of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), 2. Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Woman, Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and other related international conventions require legal politics to seek harmonization and synchronization of national regulations which ultimately resulted in Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 23 Year 2004 concerning the Elimination of Domestic Violence as an effort to minimize the crime against women. But it is not enough to eliminate the violence due to various factors, especially the law enforcement officers. Therefore, another strategy is strongly needed to support the protection of women from violence in the context of human rights.

Keywords: human rights, legal politics, strategy, woman protection.

DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/9-4-04